Fallout 76 introduces The Ghoul — And Walton Goggins is coming

Walton Goggins is officially crossing from screen to console. The Justified and Fallout star will reprise his role as The Ghoul from Prime Video’s hit TV series in Fallout 76: Burning Springs, the game’s biggest update since 2020.

Launching this December, just ahead of Fallout Season 2 (which drops on the 17th of December, hot on the heels of the first series which was one of the best on Amazon Prime), the free expansion adds a brand-new region set in post-nuclear Ohio. It's a scorched, desert-like wasteland teeming with raiders, Deathclaws, and Goggins' now-iconic gunslinger, complete with his voice and likeness.

Don’t expect The Ghoul to tag along as your companion. Instead, you’ll find him holed up in Highway Town, the expansion’s new hub area, where he dishes out bounty hunting missions to players. These range from quick Grunt Hunts to tougher Head Hunts, and large public events where multiple players can team up to track and kill high-value targets.

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The TV–game crossover is no accident. Developers say they started planning the update right after Fallout Season 1’s finale, which teased a journey to New Vegas. While the show moves west, Burning Springs stays grounded in Appalachia, but with heavy inspiration from Fallout 3 and New Vegas. According to creative director Jon Rush, the update was built around three pillars: “desert, Deathclaws, and raiders.”

In addition to the new bounty system, players can expect fresh gear, weapons (including The Ghoul’s signature pistol), and a pig named Hog Meat you can bring back to camp. There’s also a handful of chaotic new public events, like Sinkhole Solutions, a fight for survival in a pit of poison-spewing mutant beasts and Gearing Up, a time-limited scavenger hunt under fire.

Fallout 76: Inside the Vault – Burning Springs Dev Chat - YouTube

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The Ghoul’s arrival also expands the Fallout canon. Since Fallout 76 is set way back in 2102, nearly 200 years before the TV show, this marks the earliest glimpse we’ve had of Cooper Howard’s undead alter ego. Goggins, a longtime fan of the franchise, returned to voice brand-new dialogue and helped shape the character's game debut.

While there’s no official release date yet, Burning Springs hits public test servers from the 2nd of October, and launches fully in December alongside Fallout 76 Season 23: Blood and Rust. With Fallout Season 2 teasing a deeper dive into New Vegas, and a third season already confirmed, the game's crossover moment is perfectly timed. It’s never been a better time to be a fan of Fallout; now we just need a new mainline game.

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