Bethesda has never shied away from its fans in the past, from encouraging the naming of a baby called Dovahkin when Skyrim released, to sending out a free copy of Fallout 4 to a fan who shipped the devs over 2000 bottle caps.
Bethesda is hitting the headlines once again, this time for a much more wholesome reason.
12-year-old Wes from Virginia, US has been battling with an incredibly rare form of cancer since the age of five.
The stage four neuroblastoma is unfortunately now untreatable, but as Wes and his family struggled with the news, Wes realised that the cancer meant he likely wouldn’t get to experience Bethesda’s upcoming title, Fallout 76.
Posting to Facebook his family wrote: “Days after Wes had been told that Sloan wanted to stop treatment, he cried to us that he just realized that he probably would never get to play the Power Armor Edition of the new Fallout 76 game he had preordered as soon as it was announced back in June which isn’t set to be released until this November.
“He brought it up multiple times in the following days.
“Thanks to Martino Cartier, Wes didn’t have to wait. Bethesda’s (the company that makes the game) very own Matt Grandstaff drove 4 hours from Maryland to our home to hand deliver this surprise.
“He spent the day at our house watching Wes play, making him the first person in the world outside of the video game industry employees to play.
“He also received the first prototype of the power armor helmet that will be included in the new release, only his was signed by Todd Howard of Bethesda himself.
“While he doesn’t get to keep the game because it’s too early, just those hours of playtime made him happier than you know HUGE thank you to Martino and the team at Bethesda for jumping through hoops to make this happen for him
“#WesStrong #MoreThan4 #GoGoldForWes”
The post, which has since gone viral, just goes to show how supportive the gaming community can be.
Check out the post – and the heartwarming photos – above.