The Fallout 4 Next-Gen update is full of issues

Bethesda's upcoming next-gen update for Fallout 4 is riddled with issues across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

The next version was finally released on April 25, 2024 (about 18 months after it was announced) but the multi-GB update didn't receive much fanfare.

The Steam version of Fallout 4 appears to be suffering from technical issues, though, as PlayStation 5 players have had trouble getting the update at all due to an availability bug and confusing messaging from Bethesda. Xbox players, on the other hand, don't have access to the game's quality mode, which means they can't experience one of the key features of the next gen update: 4K resolution on ultra settings.

This specific issue has been confirmed in x/twitter Written by Thomas Morgan, technology expert at Digital Foundry. “I can confirm that only the 60fps performance mode is currently working. The update is buggy.”

Meanwhile, PC gamers took steam To report a myriad of update-related issues. “Many bugs that were present and were promised to be fixed are still present in the game after the patch,” Piglet said in one of the reviews. “Finally updated the game and not a single issue has been resolved,” Christmas wrote. “But now the modifications I used to fix it aren't working.”

Initial reaction to the patch notes was not positive either. “Damn, the list of bug fixes is short,” DreamweaverWR wrote on Reddit, comment with 921 upvotes. “My expectations were very low but this is much lower than I expected. They didn't fix any of the bugs that bothered me the most (VAT crash and perception error in Survival, for example).”

FluffyBunBunKittens also participated. “It's amazing,” they said. “Now I am eagerly awaiting the new bugs we will get with this update.”

One of these new bugs appears to be making the game unplayable for some on the Steam Deck. a Reddit A post from Prunebackwards said that Fallout 4 could no longer be released on laptop, a sentiment confirmed by many in the comments and elsewhere. Some players who can run the game find a myriad of issues when doing so as well, such as no graphics settings, no launcher, defaults to low settings, poor frame rate, and more.

Fallout 4's next-gen update will be available to PS+ Extra members. We don't have any information regarding the PS5 or PS+ Essentials catalog.

— Bethesda Support (@BethesdaSupport) April 25, 2024

PlayStation users weren't free from issues either, although perhaps the biggest of them came when even trying to access the game. Fallout 4 was available for free via PlayStation Plus to all PS5 owners from November 2020 to May 2023, but that version of the game, nor the PlayStation Plus Essentials Catalog version, will allow players to upgrade to the next public update for free.

A full purchase of $19.99 was required instead, though Bethesda quickly confirmed that this was an unintentional error. “We've seen some confusion regarding the free Fallout 4 next-gen update for PlayStation Plus Extra members,” Bethesda's community manager wrote on the company's official Discord site, explaining that it should be free as expected.

Bethesda was unable to provide any clarification regarding the free PS5 version nor the PS Plus Essentials version, but it said in… x/twitter “We don't have any information” about either of them, he said. It's normal for PS5 users to be frustrated by the initial error and unclear communication.

Those who did manage to get into the game didn't have the best experience either, and have taken to social media to share their impressions. “The Fallout 4 PS5 upgrade looks amazing,” he wrote. CSSJAZZ On Reddit, ironically, they posted the comment alongside a video of one area with missing tissue.

Reddit user Pasta_classic He posted a photo of the character creator screen, where the virtual man was completely missing a face. “Love the update,” he wrote. SnoopyTheDog_who posted a video of their character being locked in place while being killed by cockroaches.

“Gotta love the polish of Bethesda,” he said. The unwilling arsonistwhose post revealed that temporary weapons in the update are also missing textures, and appear as floating red exclamation marks in the world.

These issues come as a somewhat sour note in what has otherwise been a Fallout resurgence, spurred by the critically acclaimed Amazon TV series. The surge in popularity of Fallout 4, the multiplayer entry of Fallout 76, and other games in the franchise has led to popular modding site NexusMods suffering, and Fallout 76, which was universally panned, saw one million players log in in a single day after the demo. launch.

Ryan Dinsdale is a freelance reporter at IGN. He'll talk about The Witcher all day long.