Earlier this year, Bethesda announced plans to sunset its Bethesda Games Launcher after almost six years of service. Today the company has started its first steps towards a complete shutdown of the storefront by allowing players to transfer their Bethesda account to Steam before operations cease later this spring.The Bethesda Games Launcher was first rolled out in 2016 to the displeasure of many PC gamers who were upset at another launcher further segmenting their games. Bethesda would make a handful of its titles on PC exclusive to its storefront, including RAGE 2 and Fallout 76. However, almost every Bethesda Game Launcher exclusive eventually found its way to Steam, making the launcher more and more obsolete. The exact details surrounding why the storefront is closing are currently unknown, but many fans point to Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Bethesda as a potential explanation.Starting from today, April 27, to the storefront’s closure on May 11, players can begin transferring their Bethesda.net game library to Steam along with any virtual currencies for Bethesda’s existing online games. Players should navigate to the Transfer Page detailed on Bethesda’s blog post to begin the migration process, after which all transferred titles will be available for free on Steam. Migrating the Bethesda.net library is mostly painless as it requires users to log in, link their Steam account, and begin the transfer process. The migration includes all of the user’s games, expansions, and currencies, such as Atoms for Fallout 76 and Gold for Wolfenstein: Youngblood. Not included, however, are Local Game Saves and Local Configurations.
Despite the Bethesda Games Launcher shutting down in a matter of weeks, online functionality for migrated games will still require the usage of a Bethesda.net account to access various services, including game mods and microtransactions. Players can now also find Bethesda’s legacy titles on Steam, as previous classics such as The Elder Scrolls: Arena and The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall were previously only available on Bethesda’s storefront.
Bethesda appears to be making an effort to shed some of the negative baggage that fans have attributed to the company in recent years. Shutting down the Bethesda Games Launcher appears only to be the start. Starfield, the company’s next big title, has left fans cautiously optimistic after a series of disappointing game launches and rereleases by the studio. Bethesda promises that Starfield will return to its roleplaying roots following Fallout 4's muted RPG elements and Fallout 76's live-service model. With Bethesda setting its sight on the future, fans will have to wait and see what comes next from the long-standing development studio.