Highlights
- Bethesda finally addressed the status of Fallout 4's next-gen update, which will include updated graphics and additions to the Creation Club system.
- The update has been delayed due to the studio's focus on its upcoming game, Starfield, which is set to release in September.
- Speculation suggests that the next-gen update may be timed with the release of Amazon's Fallout TV series, but there is no evidence to support this theory.
During an exchange with a fan on Twitter, a representative of Bethesda Softworks has finally addressed the status Fallout 4’s long-promised next-gen update. Not much is known about what exactly the Fallout 4 update will include, other than updated graphics and additions to Bethesda's Creation Club system.
Fallout 4 was initially released in 2015 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. While critics and fans generally view it positively, it had the unfortunate distinction of being the entry in the series that had to follow Fallout: New Vegas. New Vegas, developed by Obsidian Entertainment, which, like Bethesda, is now owned by Microsoft, is considered by some to be the best entry in the Fallout series for its emphasis on the series’ narrative elements, including its sense that player choices mattered.
Fallout 4’s graphics haven’t aged poorly and can run at 60 FPS at 1080p on a good gaming PC, but it has been lacking 4K resolution support. In late 2022, as a part of a celebration of Fallout’s 25th anniversary, Bethesda announced a next-gen update that would include Performance and Quality modes. The company did not specify exactly when the update would drop, simply leaving the ship date open-ended by setting it as sometime in 2023. With most of 2023 in the books, a fan on Twitter asked Pete Hines about the status of the update. Hines is the Senior Vice President of Global Marketing & Communications at Bethesda Softworks.
Hines’ reply, which can be interpreted as a little snippy, plainly explains why an update for an eight-year-old game isn’t as much of a priority as some of the studio’s more pressing projects—namely, Starfield. Starfield is Bethesda Game Studios’ first original IP in more than two decades and its first game since Fallout 4 which, again, came out in 2015. With less than a month before release, it’s easy to imagine an all-hands-on-deck situation within the studio to ensure that Starfield is ready for its September 6 release.
Some fans have speculated that Bethesda may be holding on to the promised next-gen update to launch it closer to the premiere of Amazon’s Fallout TV series starring Walter Goggins and Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan acting as co-showrunner. While there is no evidence to support this theory, if it were true, then plans may have been disrupted by the simultaneous writers' and actors' strikes. Or, Bethesda could be simply prioritizing its first major release in nearly a decade.
Fallout 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
