It seems the landscape of video game releases is slowly changing, and it’s trickling down to how publishers are releasing their games. Bethesda has stated that it will not be launching Fallout 76 via Steam, in a peculiar announcement made via the most updated Fallout 76 beta notes. The notes mention that the game will be available on “PC (via Bethesda.net)”, bereft of any reference to Steam.
PC Gamer contacted Bethesda for clarification, and Bethesda sent clarification over that the game will not be launching via Steam after all, clarifying in full that “the PC version of Fallout 76, for both the B.E.T.A. and the launch, will be available only via Bethesda.net, not on Steam.”
Bethesda didn’t elaborate further on why the game would be skipping Steam, but much like Epic Games is doing by keeping the Android version of Fortnite away from the Google Play Store, it likely has something to do with earning more money from each cut of the game. So if you’re looking to play the game on PC via Steam, it looks like you’re currently going to be out of luck. It doesn’t appear that it will be making its way outside of the Bethesda launcher, at least not any time soon.
Fallout 76 is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on Nov. 14.
