There was a time, around four or five years ago, when it seemed the only games that were being released followed the same formula: early access, open-world, and survival. Games like Day Z and Rust exploded almost overnight, and many copycats followed.
The premise of an open-world survival game is relatively simple - you're thrust into a world with other online players, with one goal: survive. There aren't any quests or missions in those games, and the bulk of memorable experiences come from interactions with other players.
That's why it's surprising to hear that the next Fallout game is reportedly following a similar formula. Fallout, known for being a single-player role-playing-game experience, is one of developer Bethesda's most successful series. However, Kotaku reports that the next iteration, Fallout 76, will be an open-world survival RPG, heavily inspired by games like Day Z and Rust.
Open-world survival games were once constantly at the top of the sales list on Steam, but the genre has thinned out and it seems the bulk of the playerbase has moved on (most likely to battle royale games like PUBG and Fortnite). Thus, Bethesda likely has a real challenge on its hands to produce a game that clicks with players in a genre that they are seemingly already tired of.
Here's what we know about the next Fallout game, and the games that apparently inspired it: