Bethesda revealed late last month that the beta for the upcoming Fallout 76 will begin sometime in October for PC via Bethesda.net. However, a representative from the video game publisher has now confirmed to PC Gamer that the PC version of the game won"t be launching on Steam for both the beta stage and the full release.
The revelation comes as no surprise since the FAQ on Bethesda"s website for the beta indicates that only the players on Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4 will be able to get their hands on the upcoming title, without mentioning Steam at all. Additionally, the digital pre-orders for the PC version of Fallout 76 are exclusively open for Bethesda.net only and a Steam page is practically non-existent.
What is surprising about this move, however, is that Bethesda may be skipping the chance to bolster the adoption of the multiplayer action role-playing game by not launching it on Steam, which is one of the large PC digital distribution platforms in the world. Nevertheless, given Bethesda"s significant push for Bethesda.net at this year"s E3 trade show, it"s apparently understandable that the video game company is betting big on the new platform.
It is, perhaps, worth noting that Bethesda"s confirmation should not be taken to mean that the company does not plan to roll out Fallout 76 to Steam at all in the future, though Steam users may have to wait quite long before that happens.
Source: PC Gamer