Fallout 76's next major expansion is a Fallout 3 prequel set in Raven Rock

Bethesda has announced Raven Rock, a major Fallout 76 expansion due next year that serves as a prequel story to Fallout 3. The announcement came alongside the news that both Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas remasters are currently in pre-production.

Raven Rock — named after the real-world Site R, a military bunker built into the mountains — will almost certainly take players to the Capital Wasteland, east of Vault 76. That's a significant geographical shift for the game. Bethesda's official post frames it as the next step in a live-service journey that has already delivered nearly 70 free updates and attracted millions of players to Appalachia. The previous major expansion, Burning Springs, sent players to Ohio for the first time in Fallout lore and was timed to coincide with season 2 of the Fallout TV show, leaning into the desert, deathclaws, and raiders aesthetic of Fallout 3 and New Vegas.

The prequel framing is an interesting wrinkle: Fallout 76 is set over 100 years before Fallout 3, so Raven Rock will depict the site long before the events of that game. Fallout 3 players will remember Raven Rock as the Enclave's main base of operations on the East Coast, and the expansion's timing — arriving ahead of the Fallout 3 remaster — looks deliberate. It's a way to reintroduce players to that corner of the lore before the remake lands.

No release window beyond "next year" has been given, and concrete details on story or gameplay are still under wraps. For players who've been following 76 since Burning Springs, it's a while to wait — but a Fallout 3-flavored expansion dropping in the lead-up to the remaster is a smart piece of franchise momentum.