14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Bethesda is announcing that it plans to deliver a beta patch for the PC version of Fallout 4 as soon as next week, allowing gamers to test some of the core changes before delivering it to all the community.
The developers are not yet talking about the actual modifications that the coming update will make to the title or the bugfixes that will be deployed.
The company explains on the official site that it wants to make sure that all the tweaks it is making have no adverse effects first and will then offer a full PC patch, which will then also be ported to the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 versions of Fallout 4.
According to Bethesda, they are also implementing a change in philosophy when it comes to the patching process.
The team states, "Expect to see more updates, that are smaller and more frequent, than a few big ones. This allows us to make sure each fix is working right, as any change can have unintentional side effects in a game this huge. We expect the first beta patch to be up next week."
At the moment, Fallout 4 has one major crash that can stop campaign progress, linked to Monsignor Plaza, but the fan community has managed to find some workarounds so that gamers can move past it.
Fans have also been complaining about smaller glitches, and there are also seemingly random crashes that affect players on the PC and home consoles.
Bethesda might also work with both Nvidia and AMD to improve performance for both families of graphics cards, and improved memory management would also make the game run smoother on all platforms.
Fallout 4 has broken records for the series
News that a patch is coming, even if only in beta form for the moment, is great because it shows that the development team is ready to support the title in the long-term.
Bethesda says that the fans' investment has made Fallout 4 the largest game launch in the history of the company, which means that it moved more copies than the solid Fallout 3 and the New Vegas spin-off.
The title is also, apparently, the most robust and solid that the company has ever delivered.
The studio also suggests that it wants gamers to discover the world and some of the mechanics as their character would, suggesting that there are no plans to introduce a more extensive tutorial system.
Gamers who need to get more information about the mechanics should use the Help section of the main menu.
Bethesda is already selling a Season Pass for Fallout 4 but has offered no details about the kind of content it plans to offer.
The first DLC delivery will presumably take place sometime in the spring of next year, and until then the studio will focus most of its resources on the launch of patches that will eliminate as many bugs as possible.
More modding support is also expected for Fallout 4, with Microsoft and Bethesda promising that the best player tweaks that arrive on the PC will also be delivered on the Xbox One.