Never doubt Bethesda's committment to anything - even if it's just an Easter egg.
With millions of players currently wandering through the wastes of a post-apocalyptic Boston (or trying to find their way out of the game's intro), it's easy to forget that it's been nearly a decade since Fallout 3 launched. And, while it wasn't quite as expansive as Fallout 4's insane marketing push, Bethesda was definitely doing its best to market Fallout 3 to as wide an audience as possible back in 2008.
It's ironic then that one of the studio's best marketing stunts may have gone unnoticed by a large portion of its fanbase: if you paid attention to all the little details during Fallout 3's E3 2008 trailer, you may have noticed a 1-800 number sitting in the background. As it turns out, the Vault-Tec support number was an actual, working phone line - and that was just the beginning.
Polygon recently tested to see if the phone line was still working after more than seven years - and, as it turns out, Vault-Tec's committment to service is undying:
It's actually kind of amazing that the phone line still exists. Granted, it probably doesn't take all that much to keep a single 1-800 number going, but even so - it's impressive that Bethesda has even bothered to keep it going all this time, especially when there's such a large gap between releases.
Who knows - maybe once that call queue eases up, there'll be an actual Vault-Tec representative on the other side. Then again, if the wait isn't any better after eight years, it probably won't get better any time soon...
If you're looking for a more direct connection to Vault-Tec, Fallout 4 is available now.
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