Now here's another speculative theory...
What if Fallout 76 -is- a stand alone single player game. (Or even better a stand alone single player game with co-op!) While I do think a little over two years is not enough time create a whole new Fallout game... this is thinking under the conventional terms of Bethesda making an entirely new game. However, what if this new game is not an -all new- stand alone game, but rather it is a rehashed, rebranded, reskinned mesh of Fallout 4 with a completely new storyline! Keep in mind, that is EXACTLY what New Vegas is; Obsidian took Fallout 3 and recycled the engine, the meshes, rebranded it, renamed it, reskinned all the meshes of Fallout 3 with a new storyline and called it New Vegas. This was not a difficult task, evident by the fact it only took them two years to release New Vegas after Fallout 3. Well, here we are... a little over two years after Fallout 4.
So, if Obsidian could do it, is it a far stretch to think Bethesda may have decided to take on that same project themselves instead of outsourcing it to Obsidian? I think not! If only there was a scrap of evidence to fuel this theory... Well, here's my circumstantial!
Just weeks ago, most people were leaning towards expecting/hoping for Bethesda to take turns with Fallout releases and give Obsidian the next one, New Vegas 2. Well this speculation was killed by Obsidian themselves when they put out a tweet of "How do you let someone down easy? Asking for a friend. #ItsNotUs." Most people took this to mean: "New Vegas 2 is not coming!" But all they really said was, "It's not us." So in my eyes, that leaves the door wide open.
Yesterday I read someone point out that 38+38=76. This is of course reference to the Lucky 38 Casino from Fallout New Vegas. i.e. New Vegas 1=38, New Vegas 2=76. I smiled at the notion, but dismissed it just as quickly. That was until today, when I was having a look at Bethesda's Facebook page and I saw their profile image featuring "76" not as a square image, but as a round PNG. Suddenly it didn't look like a picture of a vault with "76" inscribed on it; It looked like a casino poker chip with the number "76" on it. Naturally, this immediately conjured up in my head the image of the ever famous Lucky 38 poker chip! Immediately I thought,"It's not a vault, it's a poker chip!" Well, we know for a fact there is a Vault 76, so a Lucky 76 casino may be unlikely... but still possible! At worst, the number 76 could be a reference to Fallout New Vegas.
Oh. And guess what Route 66 -does- cross? That's right... You guessed it: Las Vegas, and the Mojave Desert.
Lastly, let's revisit the song again... Yes, that good ole country song, Take Me Home Country Roads. So, load up your youtubes on your pipboy, and ask yourself, can you hear the voice of Mr. New Vegas loading up this track as you strap on your six shooter, throw on your leather duster, and head down that dark and dusty, long and lonesome highway to deliver your package..?
"Mojave, mo' problems. Am I right folks?"
This post was edited by LyonsKnight at June 1, 2018 6:17 PM EDT