Fallout 76 was not the first attempt to splice the retro post-apocalypse with an MMO. Years before, Fallout's original owner, Interplay, had taken a crack at it. This was actually after Bethesda had purchased the rights to the series, but the two companies came to an arrangement: one that would ultimately devolve into a lawsuit, an out-of-court settlement and the cancellation of Fallout Online.
The concept, though, goes much further back. Bethesda acquired Fallout in 2007, but Interplay founder Brian Fargo had been mulling over the idea since the late '90s. He pitched it to Black Isle Studios, but founder Feargus Urquhart, now CEO of Obsidian, rejected the idea. An MMO just didn't seem very Fallout. Tim Cain, Fallout's co-creator, felt the same way.
