Bethesda has made a surprise announcement concerning the upcoming release of Fallout 76. As stated in the B.E.T.A.’s FAQ; Bethesda plans to abandon Steam as a platform for the Fallout 76 launch on PC. Instead, the game will be released on Bethesda’s own proprietary platform; Bethesda.net.
The Fallout 76 Launch on PC
Fallout 76 is scheduled to release on the 14th of November, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. However, until now most fans had likely assumed that the game would be released via Steam. All of the previous Bethesda Fallout titles are available on Steam, as are all of the Elder Scrolls titles as far back as The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. However, Bethesda has decided to make the bold move to abandon the platform and make the game available solely through Bethesda.net. “The B.E.T.A. will be available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and on PC (via Bethesda.net),” states the Fallout 76 B.E.T.A. FAQ; “Both the B.E.T.A. and the game will be available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and on PC (via Bethesda.net only).”
An Industry Moving Towards Proprietary Platforms?
Of course, it is possible that Fallout 76 will still come to Steam at some point post-launch. Fallout Shelter, for example, did not initially launch on Steam. The game only came to Valve’s platform a year after its release. The move echoes those of several other publishers who have begun to abandon Steam in favor of proprietary platforms. Activision Blizzard’s Battle.net platform is perhaps the largest currently in existence; the site which hosts Destiny 2 and other titles published by Activision Blizzard). Of course, some platforms have existed for much longer, such as Ubisoft’s Uplay, or EA’s Origin. However, those services faced much more resistance from fans when they first launched.
It’s worth noting that Valve typically takes around a 30% cut from all sales on Steam. The main point in Valve’s favor has long been the enormous Steam user-base, which incentivizes developers to market to the largest audience. However, the largest companies may increasingly be feeling that their games get enough publicity that they can host them on their own platforms without seeing a significant decrease in sales.