‘Fallout 4’ Season Pass Announced With No DLC Details, Free Updates
Bethesda Game Studios answered the question of Fallout 4 DLC and updates Wednesday, while revealing Season Pass plans, as well. However, in the process, the publisher confirmed work on DLC for the Season Pass hasn’t even started for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC role-playing game.
First, the good news is Fallout 4 will receive regular free updates, similar to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. These updates will include both bug fixes and features.
“For Skyrim, we added things like mounted combat, legendary mode, kill cams, visual enhancements and more,” the developer wrote on Bethesda’s website. “We’ll work with all of you to figure out what new things you’d love to see added to Fallout 4, whether they are small tweaks or new features.”
Fallout 4 plans: Launch and Beyond http://t.co/jr2gjN0cZX pic.twitter.com/9zE0IbeS05
— BethesdaGameStudios (@BethesdaStudios) September 9, 2015
The post-release support for Skyrim was plagued with resources dragged in to solve issues the game had with the PlayStation 3 architecture. Bethesda did manage to get nine patches out for the game, with new features added starting with the fifth patch released five months after release. Two of the last four patches added new features, with 1.9 coming a year and a half later with the new Legendary difficulty and skills.
Players continued to fix various bugs in Skyrim even after Bethesda stopped. Unofficial patches via mods continue to be released from communities such as Nexus Mods.
Mod support will return with Fallout 4 and be expanded to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as previously covered by Inquisitr. The mod tools will not be out until next year, though.
Meanwhile, Fallout 4 will have a Season Pass to grant all DLC released for the game at a cost of $30. Bethesda doesn’t even appear to know what the DLC will be at this point, but says it will be worth the money.
“Since we’re still hard at work on the game, we don’t know what the actual DLC will be yet, but it will start coming early next year,” Bethesda explained. “Based on what we did for Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim, we know that it will be worth at least $40, and if we do more, you’ll get it all with the Season Pass.”
The comparison to Bethesda’s three previous games is interesting because they all featured different types of DLC. For example, Skyrim supported three DLC expansions, while Fallout 3 had five. Meanwhile, Oblivion brought the infamous “Horse Armor,” along with several smaller add-ons. It then received more extensive expansions with Knights of the Nine and finally Shivering Isles, which added another 30 hours to the game.
So which direction is Bethesda heading with Fallout 4 DLC? Only it can answer that, but the Skyrim model seems the most likely.
Unfortunately, this announcement demonstrates the conundrum that game developers and publishers often find themselves in. If they work on DLC too early and details what is coming in the Season Pass, then they are accused of holding content back to make an extra buck. If they announce a Season Pass with little to no details, consumers wonder why they would even purchase a Season Pass.
What do you think of the Fallout 4 DLC and Season Pass plans so far? Sound off in the comments below.
[Images via Bethesda]
