Why Bethesda Is Abandoning Steam for Fallout 76

Fallout 76 will be launching on all platforms next month; Xbox One, PS4, and PC. However, there is one notable difference to the Fallout 76 launch compared to most major game launches. Fallout 76 will not be launching on Steam. Bethesda announced the decision to abandon Steam in favour of their own platform back in August; the game will instead be releasing on PC via Bethesda.net. Pete Hines has now given some clarification as to why Bethesda chose not to release on Steam despite a long history of releasing via the platform.

Pete Hines Explains Why Fallout 76 Isn’t Launching on Steam

According to Pete Hines, the reason to abandon Steam has a lot to do with Bethesda’s ability to communicate with its players. Fallout 76 will be Bethesda’s second always-online title, following The Elder Scrolls: Online, which is a more traditional MMO experience. Although Elder Scrolls: Online is available on Steam, it also runs via Bethesda.net, and it seems that Bethesda may now feel that their own platform is better for what they want going forward.

Fallout 76 Will Launch on Bethesda.net on PC

“It’s an online, always-on game,” explains Hines; “and is a service. That was also based on our experiences with other online games as well. We felt that having a direct relationship with our customers was super important to use. And so doing it through Bethesda.net exclusively allows us to have that one-to-one relationship with customers, that quite honestly you don’t always have when you go through another third party where they might own the relationship with the customer in terms of being able to email them or to reach out directly and contact them.”

Additionally, Hines went on to say that it would help Bethesda to bypass issues which they have seen in the past. Although Bethesda has released all of their titles since Skyrim on Steam, and retroactively released others from before that point in time, it seems that the studio wishes to try something new.

“It simplifies things a little,” continues Hines; “and we believe it’s going to help us deal with some issues and challenges that we’ve seen in the past. And again, it’s a new experience, like the game itself is and we’re going to see how it goes and how it works and what benefits it allows us to have in making sure our customers have the best experience possible.”