Fallout 76 has revealed a new subscription service, Fallout 1st, which allows players to play alone in private worlds, among other things.

Private worlds for yourself and up to seven friends.

A Scrapbox with unlimited storage for crafting materials.

A Survival Tent that acts as a placeable fast travel point.

1,650 Atoms a month for the game's shop.

An exclusive Ranger Armor outfit.

Unique icons and emotes.

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Launching today, and priced at $12.99 a month, or $99.99 a year (that's £11.99 / £99.99 in the UK, and a staggering $23 / $180 in Australia), Bethesda explains that a Fallout 1st membership gets you:Only the owner of a private world has to be a Fallout 1st member - the seven other friends can be regular players (although the world will only stay active if at least one player is a 1st subscriber). Only existing characters can join a private world.Private worlds will have the same ruleset as the public Adventure Mode, and it can't currently be changed. However, Bethesda promises that private worlds will get more features in future, including the possibility of mod support.It's sure to be a divisive move - Bethesda admits in its own announcement post that some of these features - private worlds, solo play and mods in particular - have been requested since before the launch of the game. To release them under the proviso of a recurring payment will likely cause controversy.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK Deputy Editor, and he is... surprised by this news. Follow him on Twitter