The cultural value of games is reflected in many ways, and Fallout 76 is a prime example. Like other Fallout games, Fallout 76 takes place in a real location, this time in West Virginia in the eastern United States. The game’s detailed recreation of the region, combined with its immersive gameplay, has even inspired real-world activity, with players buying caps Fallout 76-style hats and exploring the game’s landmarks in real life.

West Virginia is not far from Washington, D.C., where Fallout 3 takes place, or Boston, where Fallout 4 takes place. However, because the state has no major cities and is not often seen as a vacation destination, few outsiders pay attention to it. On a map, it is also a place with a low sense of presence. The game uses the well-known West Virginia anthem “Country Road” as background music, which shows the local scenery. This undoubtedly makes the locals feel “flattered”. Compared to places like Washington, Boston, and Las Vegas, Fallout has a particularly big impact on West Virginia. With the help of local media and social networking, even residents who don’t play Fallout have become interested in the game. Local Fallout fans are even more excited and have taken to Twitter to celebrate. Some people have even started a pilgrimage based on the landmarks in the trailer, analyzing the map of Fallout 76 based on existing information. From this, we can see that the explorable area of the game could be huge.

In the eyes of some West Virginians, Fallout 76 is a great opportunity to show off their hometown to the outside world. Dr. Morris Setter of Huntington Marshall University is a professor of political science and popular culture, as well as an avid Fallout fan. She believes that West Virginia has been ignored in modern popular culture, occasionally popping up but stereotyped as backward and pedantic, and that Fallout 76 will change that.

“You can see the New River Gorge Bridge, the Greenbrier Resort, and Camden Park in the game, and even local legends like Mothman. Bethesda has done a great job. I hope what I see in the end is a fun game and a piece of work that the locals can be proud of.

She also shared her own “Fallout version” state emblem on Twitter. Dr. Morris Setter’s point seems to make sense. Though the game has yet to be released, it has already had a positive impact on the local tourism industry.

After the release of the Fallout 76 trailer, local travel website WVExplorer quickly compiled the actual landmarks featured in the trailer. The site’s traffic skyrocketed from 2,000 hits per day to 30,000 hits per day. Camden Park, which appeared in the demo, is a well-known local attraction. Since E3, the park has received many inquiries from tourists, some of whom even want to buy commemorative t-shirts. Although the park has no plans for the future, most people are optimistic about the attention Fallout 76 will bring. The person in charge of the ride at Camden Park said: “We’ve never had this level of publicity and it will bring good things. Let’s wait and see.” Out of curiosity, I checked out the attractions in West Virginia and found that the Mountain State is rich in tourism resources. The lack of recognition may be due to a lack of publicity. Fallout 76 could make this place popular.