Fallout 76's Hunter/Hunted PvP mode is basically a battle royale minigame

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Hmm, a (totally optional) mode that pits players against each other in a shrinking arena…

When we went hands-on with Fallout 76 earlier this month, we got a brief glimpse of an optional minigame called Hunter/Hunted. It was billed as a dedicated PvP mode which would allow aggressive players to fight without worrying about penalties, but we weren't totally clear on how it works until today. Bethesda clarified the rules and rewards of Hunter/Hunted in a new blog post, and it sounds much more like a battle royale game than we expected.

You join Hunter/Hunted by tuning into its radio station via your Pip-Boy (pictured below). Once four (or more) players tune in, everyone is assigned a target from the pool of participants. Note that the person you're hunting isn't necessarily the person hunting you. Once everyone has a target, you'll have one hour to hunt each other down within a designated area. 

"Over time, the Hunt area’s size will decrease, forcing you closer to your current victim and assassin," Bethesda said. "Upon killing your target, you’ll be assigned to the player they were tracking, and so on, until just one Hunter remains. Win or lose, taking down at least one other Hunter will award you with some Caps and XP. These rewards will also increase based on the number of kills you achieve, up to a maximum of six kills."

While totally optional and technically not a battle royale game, Hunter/Hunted is certainly taking cues from the genre. It only requires four players and those players can use whatever gear they want, but it's still a PvP mode about fighting to the death within an ever-shrinking arena. That's battle royale if I've ever heard it. 

The Fallout 76 beta starts this week. Here's everything you need to know.  

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.