The sun is finally setting on the Bethesda Launcher’s nearly six years of service in favor of a more stable and reliable PC service, Steam.
The Bethesda Launcher is finally closing down for good and migrating all its games (and its user libraries) to Valve’s Steam. A relatively seamless transition, players will migrate every game on the Bethesda launcher from DLC to in-game currency and skins from early April to May. The launcher’s virtual currency will also be carried over, along with purchases made using Bethesda’s launcher. Even the Bethesda.net friends list on games that have the feature active will carry over to Steam.
While the transition to Steam does not affect the Bethesda.net account, players will still need an account to access some online and in-game features, which might vary from title to title, but could include things like game mods, skins, and updates. Elder Scrolls Online is promised to remain unaffected by the migration, and the same seemingly goes for Fallout 76, with character progress and account status carrying over. Players looking to transfer to another PC distribution service like GOG are unfortunately out of luck, as the migration is for Steam only. The same goes for migrating to PlayStation or Xbox, as the transfer is for PC accounts only.
Most games appear to be making the transition without too much complication (though Fallout 76 has a FAQ with more details), but with the former gateway to Bethesda’s PC games coming to an end after a mere six years in service, some aspects of the shutdown are worth noting. Players will not lose games in the library if they don’t migrate before the May deadline, but those games will become unplayable on the launcher itself. Save files are a little more complicated, with Bethesda stating via a news post that it expects “all save progress to be transferable automatically or manually.” Fans of first person shooter series Wolfenstein, however, will need to watch out specifically for Wolfenstein: Youngblood, which looks like it won’t be able to transfer saves at all.
The Closing Of Bethesda Launcher Will Benefit Players In The Long Run
When the launcher was released in 2016, it felt like more of a tactic on Bethesda’s end to challenge Valve’s 30% cut on sales and compete with other PC services like EA’s Origin. However, instead of being a launcher meant to enrich players’ experience while providing a hub for managing games, the launcher was in some ways more fluff than a distribution service. The launcher was also sometimes a detriment to players, offering more sluggish navigation and seemingly missing essential features standard on Steam.
The transition from the Bethesda launcher to Steam looks to be a fairly seamless migration, if all goes as planned, and should ultimately be a better deal for players in the long run. However, given Microsoft’s $7.5 billion acquisition of Bethesda and the growing list of Xbox-acquired studios and games, it’s difficult not to wonder whether this is a step toward more industry consolidation. Whatever the case, with the closing of the launcher and the shift to Steam, Bethesda can finally give much-needed attention to Starfield, The Elder Scrolls 6, or finding a way to launch another version of Skyrim.
Source: Bethesda (2)
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