Almost two months ago, a Fallout 76 player who uses a wheelchair made a post on the game’s unofficial subreddit asking for the mobility aids to be added to the camp customisation options. The latest Fallout 76 update, released today, honours that request.
“It would make me so happy to have that little piece of me in my creations,” Kelly, who goes by Kytahl online, wrote on the Fallout 76 subreddit in September.
The community immediately took up Kelly’s cause, eventually getting the request in front of a community manager, who commented on the original post saying they would pass the message along to the developers. Since a wheelchair prop already existed in Fallout 76, many players believed it would be a simple matter of making it possible for characters to sit in the prop and adding it to the camp options.
With the early release of the Steel Dawn expansion yesterday, another thread was started pointing out the existence of the wheelchair as a usable piece of furniture in Fallout 76. While it apparently popped up on the public test server a few weeks back, its inclusion in the full game reminded several people of the months-old request. Kelly herself eventually posted about it on Twitter, happily sharing images of her brand-new, in-game mobility device.
Kotaku contacted Bethesda for more information on this addition but did not hear back.
one month ago I posted this. Thank you so much, and excuse my tears. @Fallout @bethesda @bethesda_nl #Fallout #Fallout76 pic.twitter.com/VHmy0LRcKO
— Kelly (Kel) (@Kytahl) November 25, 2020
“Seeing one of my favourite games actually listen to me, and include something like that in the game… absolutely no words,” Kelly told Kotaku via DM. “I genuinely shed a tear today when I opened the workshop menu and saw the chair.”
Kelly likened the addition to how she felt seeing a wheelchair in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, something Kotaku’s very own Mike Fahey found similar happiness in. The accessibility device now sits in a place of prominence in Kelly’s Fallout 76 campsite, which is made up to look like a motel. She says she even made sure to show her mum.
“I know it’s just a furniture item, but I hope in the future of gaming we can get more disabled characters,” Kelly told Kotaku. “I know it would’ve helped me as a teen, as I struggled immensely with how I viewed myself. It often gets connected with being useless, and that’s how I felt growing up.”
“All I can say is representation matters,” she added.
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