An apparent glitch appears to have caused Fallout 76’s Atom store to temporarily display some fan art without the creator’s explicit permission. According to the fan – Fallout fan film creator Zack Finfrock – the allegedly plagiarized artwork has been removed from the store, with Fallout 76’s creative director even offering Finfrock the opportunity to work with Bethesda in an official capacity in the future.
Just a quick background, Zack Finfrock isn’t your average Fallout fan like you and me, he has been the driving force behind several critically acclaimed and popular Fallout fan films over the years, with his latest project being Fallout: Breakout.
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He’s also created a ton of Fallout-themed artwork, and when the latest Atomic Shop update for Fallout 76 went live on June 2, I noticed that one of the new additions — the Independence Day-themed Flags Flying Bundle — used artwork that looked a little familiar.
Finfrock tweeted: “Look, I like Fallout 76, and someone on the art team seems to like my Fallout memes, so [Fallout 76 creative director Jonathan Rush]who can I talk to about this? I know I don’t own Vault Boy or anything like that, but you can contact me so I can draw a newer, better version of your Atom Shop image.
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The fan then seemingly contacted Rush via Twitter DM in an attempt to resolve the issue amicably, and later shared a screenshot of the conversation, in which Rush appeared to respond: “We’re working on this. There was a mix-up with an outside vendor… images are being replaced now. Thanks for raising the issue.” He later added: “Sorry for the situation. Your beautiful artwork was confused with the official one.” In line with this, the artwork for the bundle in the Atom Shop appears to have been changed to a different image.
But it didn’t end there, Flynn Flock was actually using the opportunity to create some official artwork for the developer, writing: “I would love to work with you. I would love to take this opportunity to open this door.”
Rush seemed to like the idea as well, replying: “If you’re up for it, I’d like to sign you up to do some artwork for our messages of the day and bundled assets for future patches.” After Finfrock agreed, Rush added: “Great – we’ll be in touch soon. It’ll be fun to work with you.”
We’ve reached out to Bethesda with the intention of verifying whether this mix-up actually occurred, and as the shared information suggests, it does currently plan to offer Finfrock some contract work on game art at some point in the future.
For more on Fallout 76, be sure to check out our recent interview with lead producer Bill LaCoste about the launch of its latest expansion, Skyrim, which includes some interesting answers about Fallout 5 and Phil Spencer getting nuked.
