Fallout 76's in-game Atom Shop is currently having a Christmas themed sale, with multiple Christmas related cosmetic items on its virtual shelves like Santa Claus costumes. Problem is, the Fallout 76 community noticed the prices on these items are way too high to be considered "microtransactions" and a fair business practice overall: some items' discounts aren't a discount at all compared to their original prices. Bethesda is also claiming some items have been "discounted" when they've been put on sale for the first time during the Christmas limited sale.

Atoms is a currency Fallout 76 players can earn by playing the game "normally". However, as you progress through the game, the amount of Atoms you earn lowers, reaching meager amounts, until the only stable way left to earn more Atoms would be to buy some with real money. This is a scenario you'd often experience in free-to-play games. However, Fallout 76 is not a free-to-play game.

Fallout 76 players on Reddit have been pinpointing the problems with Bethesda's business practice as well. Redditors have been pointing out some of the items are priced as much as the game itself at some retailers now. Fallout 76's reception being quite grim, the game's price quickly dropped after release. Many players rightfully claim that while it is only cosmetic items, such practices shouldn't be supported, or things will only get worse. Many have also shared how much they could do with 18 dollars, the price of a Power Armor recolor:

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Some have been taking it with irony as well:

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The overall reception on this Christmas sale is very negative and even the most supportive players of the game so far are starting to voice complaints.

Fallout fans on Twitter also pointed out the fact that some of Bethesda's business practices are illegal in some parts of the world, and some have started to file in complaints.

It's also worth mentioning many players are believing the prices have been intentionally raised by Bethesda to cover up the free atoms some players received: If you take the prices of the items sold during the sale, and subtract 500 Atoms from them, and convert it to the equivalent in real money, the prices become much more reasonable.

Bethesda was vastly criticized last month after their initial response regarding the Canvas Bag included in Fallout 76's Limited Edition, the Power Armor Edition. When players received their Edition, they realized the bag's quality was much lower than what was initially advertised. In the end, players who purchased the Limited Edition received 500 free Atoms as compensation.

So far, there has yet to be almost any positive news surrounding Fallout 76 since its release last month. Maybe the calendar turning over to 2019 will finally bring with it some much-needed changes to this multiplayer open world game.

Fallout 76 is out for PC, Xbox One and PS4.