New cheat programs are helping some Fallout 76 players duplicate their items and add massive new objects to the game like airships and even non-player characters.
On December 14 during Fallout 76’s free weekend event, Unknowncheats.me forum user ErectBAN released a series of cheat scripts they wrote for the game on PC allowing players to spawn weapons, armor, and other objects into the game. “This release will most likely be hotfixed instantly,” they wrote. “Use the free weekend accounts to spawn containers, items, and create legendary equipment. After you create your items, store them on a mule account, do this at your own risk.”
Last week, a player reported seeing the Prydwen, the Brotherhood of Steel airship from Bethesda’s 2015 role-playing game Fallout 4, floating in the skies above Fallout 76's Whitesprings resort, likely as a result of the new hack. They posted a video of it on YouTube showing it was linked to a nearby electrical tower, likely because that’s where the player who hacked the airship into the game was keeping their campsite. Floating campsites have long been a thing in Fallout 76. Some players have even attempted to make them look like the Prydwen. But this is the first time the actual Prydwen has ever been spotted in the game.
Now players have also managed to add NPCs to the game. In an email to Kotaku, Reddit user TheGeminaii with the Fallout 76 group Dupers R Us shared video footage of them and a friend playing with Brotherhood of Steel soldiers, Queen Scorchbeasts, and human NPCs they themselves had created.
“Their functionality is actually incredibly high,” TheGeminaii said. “They will wander around your camp while idle, and in combat they will relentlessly chase their opponent, taking cover and retreating when necessary.” These players have even been able to use the hack to make NPCs that act like companions, protecting the player against anyone who might do them harm.
“There are a few limitations though,” TheGeminaii said. “They spawn without clothes, and some without weapons. The sounds of the weapons they fire are sometimes replaced by the sound of turret gunfire. And they cannot leave your camp unless its to hunt down an enemy.” But TheGeminaii is still working on improving the NPCs’ functionality, at least until Bethesda finds a way to block the hacks. The company’s Wastelanders update adding official NPCs is due out early next year.
While it might be cool to be wandering through the game one day and spot something like the Prydwen, or even an NPC from one of the previous games, the cheats can also be used to potentially cause chaos in fights or ruin Fallout 76’s competitive battle royal mode. Some players on the game’s subreddit have reported mass insta-killings during matches, while others have reported seeing distorted character models in the pre-match lobby or through kill cams that lead them to believe those players are hacking the game.
The apparent uptick in instances of cheating has led to calls on the game’s subreddit for Bethesda to add more stringent anti-cheat protections to the game, and to also be more forceful in banning accounts of the people caught hacking. While Fallout 76 has had no shortage of problems, including at times people using exploits to duplicate rare items, it’s not clear if the recent cheat scripts are an isolated problem or part of a larger issue with how the game was developed.
Bethesda did not immediately respond to a request for comment.