Fallout 4 Hoax Creator Breaks Cover, Explains Actions

Plenty of people try to pull fast ones on the general gaming populace. Very few of them sit down for a pleasant fireside chat afterward. And yet, that's exactly what the disappointment wizard behind infamous Fallout 4 "teaser" site Survivor 2299 did in the wake of a freshly canceled hoax campaign. Going by the name DCHoaxer on Reddit, he hosted an AMA that revealed why he did it, how much it cost ($990!), and what it was originally going to culminate in (a full-blown CG trailer). Hoaxcrafters and pranksters the world over, meet your new god.

So, first up, why go to all this trouble in the first place? Well, DC had a surprisingly well-meaning plan:

"I wanted to force Bethesda to reveal something during VGX on 12/11, and bring the /r/Fallout community together (for at least 3 weeks) Unfortunately, this plan Failed."

Good intentions? Maybe. Er, kinda? But also some very flawed reasoning. Leaks prompt early reveals. Hoaxes prompt, well, pretty much what Bethesda did.

As for that CG trailer, a chat with Bethesda apparently "killed his plans." He added, however, that he'll release it later, once the publisher has removed its quavering finger from the proverbial big red button. "I'll do it after 12/11 on my website," he wrote. "Let things cool off a little. I don't wan't to piss off Bethesda at this time even more."

Also, in case you're mad, DC acknowledged that he's a "prick," "asshole," and a "douche," so he covered pretty much the full spectrum of colloquial self-deprecation. He's also received 14 death threats, because the Internet turns human beings into complete psychopaths.

So there you have it: the aftermath of a perhaps overly elaborate prank. Fallout 4 remains officially unannounced, Fallout fans' jimmies have officially been rustled, and I have officially exposed "officially" as a largely meaningless word in most games articles. Have a good one, all!