Fallout 76 Setting: Song and Trailer May Have Already Spoiled the Location

The announcement of Fallout 76 came after months of rumors, and fans have inferred from the trailer that the game will take place in West Virginia. But redditors posting on the newly formed Fallout 76 subreddit believe they may have found precisely where it takes place, down to the street.

Most speculators have pointed to West Virginia as the location of Fallout 76 because of the trailer’s song, the 1971 classic “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver. It’s a gushing praise of West Virginia that has since become the state’s unofficial anthem. When Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) died in 2010, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” was the dirge that played for his memorial at the West Virginia State Capitol.

However, the Shenandoah River and Blue Ridge Mountains which Denver loving described in his song were never really a part of West Virginia’s identity. They’re much more strongly associated with its neighbor, Virginia.

A interesting theory from Reddit picks up on that quirk, along with the presidential address we hear in the Fallout 76 trailer. Before moving forward, I have to point out that the original poster who came up with the theory has an unsavory history of writing some pretty toxic stuff online. Thankfully, the other commenters in the ‘Fallout 76’ subreddit contributed plenty of valuable input which shouldn’t be discredited. So, moving on…

By meticulously irking out the details from the song (specifically the mention of a sunrise) and looking through highway infrastructure, the theory places Vault 76 in the very beautiful Shenandoah Valley, right off of Interstate 66. More specifically, on a street called Country Club Road. Ahh.

The theory could be criticized as being a bit pedantic with the song lyrics, but it’s got some legs. The valley is an ideal area to place a vault. It has all the land necessary to construct a sophisticated, self-sustaining town while only being a few days away from Washington, D.C. If the rumors are true and Fallout 76 is a survival shooter with lots of base building, then Shenandoah would be a great setting.

It could be a case of looking way too hard into references the creators never intended to make, but these posters may be on to something. There’s a bigger opportunity to start fresh if Fallout 76 was set in West Virginia, but putting Vault 76 closer to our nation’s capital would also open up the possibility of tapping into Fallout 3 nostalgia and exploring famous landmarks to check off the Fallout bingo card.

After all, if it doesn’t have Americana, then it ain’t a Fallout game.

Bethesda is set to present at E3 2018 on June 10