A pricing bug puts Bethesda's post-apocalyptic RPG, Fallout 4, on sale for free on the Xbox Store, resulting in a quick fix by developers to rectify the mistake.
For those unaware, Fallout 4 and all of its expansions such as the Automatron, Wasteland Workshop, and Far Harbor DLC packages were on sale for a brief period of time on the Xbox Store yesterday, no doubt leading to a mad rush to download the contents before being fixed. More than likely, the issue stemmed from a pricing error glitch on Microsoft's end for the digital edition of the action-RPG, which has now been resolved, as Fallout 4 and all of its assets have been brought back up to their original costs.
As seen in the tweet from Twitter user Wario64 below, the Fallout 4-related bug occurred yesterday afternoon, with some fans reporting they were able to snag a copy of the game and the Season Pass materials that are currently available without having to pay a cent before the glitch was corrected. At this point in time, neither Bethesda nor Microsoft have spoken out to officially confirm what the problem was.
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Upon the bug's discovery, even Bethesda's Vice President of Marketing and PR, Pete Hines, had no clue how Fallout 4 had accidentally been listed as free for Xbox One. Interestingly enough, when asked by a fan about the issue on the studio executive's official Twitter account, Hines replied by saying, "No idea. Not my platform. Bug/hiccup. They'll undo it."
Whatever the case may be regarding origins of the Fallout 4 pricing error on the Xbox Store, this isn't the first instance of the open world title's materials being unintentionally listed for free in a digital marketplace. As it happens, PlayStation 4 players were able to take advantage of a bug that let them download the post-apocalyptic RPG's Season Pass for free, which led to Sony canceling the purchases due to the glitch. With that in mind, there's no word as to whether or not Microsoft will take the same approach and set a expiry date on the content that fans got for free on Xbox One.
In any event, now that the problem has been addressed and Fallout 4's price points have returned to normal, Bethesda surely has its attention turned toward its forthcoming E3 2016 showcase this coming Sunday, June 12. If the developer has any more announcements to be made regarding Fallout 4, it will surely make them known during the expo, but most fans are probably more excited to get the lowdown on the studio's three "big and crazy" projects in the works.
What's your take on Fallout 4's digital assets being listed for free on the Xbox Store? Did you take advantage of the glitch before it got fixed? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Fallout 4 is out now and is available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: Pete Hines – Twitter, Wario64 – Twitter (via GameSpot)