Gaming

'Overwatch' 'Fallout 76' Memes: Fans Really Want a Soldier 76 Crossover

I've got you in my V.A.T.S.

by Jonathan Lee

We’re all vault dwellers now. After Bethesda released the Fallout 76 teaser on Wednesday, Overwatch fans were struck by the remarkable visual similarity between the 76 emblazoned on the back of the vault dweller’s jumpsuit and Soldier: 76’s iconic biker jacket.

What followed, of course, was memes and fan art.

Jennifer Kollecker, an artist from Hamburg, even made a cool sketch of what a potential Fallout-inspired Soldier: 76 skin could look like. It appears he’s wielding a Soldierfied version of the Fallout plasma rifle. Judging by the glowing green knobs, it’s the rifle variant of the plasma gun in Fallout 4.

This isn’t the first time that a popular first-person-shooter franchise has inspired a crossover with other games. Team Fortress 2 regularly releases promotional cosmetic items to tie-in with other titles, including Fallout: New Vegas. Players who purchased Fallout: New Vegas on Steam within a year of the game’s release could equip a Pip-Boy 3000 on their Engineer in Team Fortress 2.

Blizzard itself produces tons of crossover items between its own games, and even created Heroes of the Storm as a giant brawl between the company’s most iconic characters. It’s the only game where you’ll find Jim Raynor fighting alongside Garrosh Hellscream to take down Diablo.

Unfortunately, the chances of a Fallout skin for Soldier: 76 are slim to none. For all the pop culture references the company loves to use in its games and cosmetic items, it has no history of cross promotion with other developers.

That’s a shame. I would’ve liked to see what the old war dog can do with a V.A.T.S. display.

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