The buzz around the state for the launch of Fallout 76 has been strong for some time now. But after the media preview last week at the Greenbrier, people around the country are beginning to take notice, too. David Sibray publishes the West Virginia Explorer website, and he said the interest in the state has been growing since the game was announced.
“One morning I woke up and I saw hundreds of people on our website, and I’m used to seeing dozens a day but not hundreds at any one time, and so I began to search around and I realized they were visiting our monsters pages,” Sibray said.
Those hits are searching for legends and myths from towns all around the state, and landmarks around the state that are well known to Mountaineers are getting national attention, too. And Sibray said he expects to see that interest translate into the real world.
“Towns large and small across the state, some which might be considered obscure, begin to suddenly see people visiting them. I think there’s a flavor in West Virginia that comes across in the game, and that’s going to inspire more people to begin to explore the whole of West Virginia,” said Sibray.
Fallout developers Bethesda Game Studios has already announced plans to continue to expand the game. And that expansion may be a key to seeing many more people making a trip to West Virginia.
“I think that we’re going to see a situation in which possibly a generation of people, and maybe more than that, continue to gain a knowledge about West Virginia, and become attracted to it because of this game,” Sibray said.
