Debuted in 2016, the Bethesda Launcher was intended to be a nexus for all things related to the popular video game publisher. Including titles such as The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Doom Eternal, and Fallout 76, many heavy-hitting Bethesda releases were supported through the software. However, in May 2022, the service will be shut down, and users’ games, wallets, and in-game currencies and purchases will be migrated to Steam.In a blog post on Bethesda.net, the publisher thanks its community for their years of support and announces that, in the next few months, the Bethesda.net service will be shuttered and its functions transferred to Valve’s continuously-growing PC gaming platform Steam. According to Bethesda, this migration process will begin in April, and, though specifics are yet to come, it seems as if the publisher is taking a player-first approach to the transition.A subsequent FAQ reiterates that Bethesda.net users will have the ability to move titles they’ve previously purchased on the platform over to Steam and that the service will remain in operation until May. It continues by confirming that users’ Bethesda.net friends list will be merged with their Steam friends list and that the functionality of online games such as Fallout 76 and The Elder Scrolls Online will be unaffected. In fact, ESO players can already link their accounts to Steam.
Bethesda saw fit to post a separate FAQ focusing entirely on Fallout 76, though, aside from a change in launcher, the experience will essentially remain unaltered. Players will retain access to their characters and in-game progress following the move, and things like in-game currency, season progress, and C.A.M.P builds will also remain after the shift to Steam has been completed. Benefits from Fallout 1st memberships will also be maintained, though the notorious griefing of Fallout 76 players who subscribed to the service may finally be forgotten.
For many PC players, this initiative has been a long time coming. Split among Steam, GOG Galaxy, Bethesda.net, Battle.net, the Epic Games Store, and many others, PC gaming has slowly devolved into a burdensome task requiring multiple accounts, passwords, and subscriptions. Fortunately, the Bethesda.net merge will help to streamline access to fan-favorite releases, and PC gamers won’t have to endure the hassle of repeatedly logging into a completely separate service once again when the long-anticipated spacefaring RPG Starfield launches in November.
Still, the precise reason for Bethesda’s sudden sunsetting of the Bethesda.net launcher remains unknown, though it may have something to do with the recent Microsoft acquisition. Furthermore, though the launcher will be shuttered, many Bethesda games will still require a Bethesda.net account, meaning that, while PC players will be spared the trouble of signing in to a separate launcher, they’ll still need to recover their account passwords should they wish to partake in the online components of many of the publisher’s recent releases.