First Fallout 4 patch coming soon - only on PC

The first major patch for Bethesda's Fallout 4 is set to arrive as early as next week, but only PC players will get access to it

Fallout 4 is a huge and sprawling game, and it's also a bit of a mess. While I haven't had too many major bugs show up during my time in the Commonwealth so far, that doesn't mean it has been plain sailing. Everything from the cumbersome menus to the conversation systems have caused me issues, and that's before I even mention the barely functional and totally opaque settlement crafting system.

Seriously, who thought that was ok to ship?

The problems of players have been heard by Bethesda, who announced patching plans in a blog post. An update will be made available as soon as next week, though console sorts will have to wait a bit longer. Here's more from the blog:

"For some, the freedom the game offers can be overwhelming. We know the game throws a lot on you at once, so take your time. There are many moments of “How does this work? What do I do to survive?” and that’s how your character should be feeling as well. Those that push through should be able to look back at who they were when they stepped out of the Vault and say, “I made it. I understand this world now and it’s mine."

So they know that it's a royal mess at times, and they kept that in because it replicates the feeling of the character. That all seems a bit convenient, but the game does definitely become easier to understand the more you play it. Though it would have been nice if it was just functional to begin with. More on patching plans below:

"Our process for updating the game will include releasing a beta patch on Steam, followed by full release on PC, then release on the consoles. This process has worked well for us in the past and allows us to get more fixes out faster. 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."

So, for once, PC players and Steam folks in particular will be getting the updates first. That's certainly refreshing but make no mistake - sometimes the fix is worse than the original issue, and Bethesda doesn't have a stellar record in that regard. Do you know you still can't touch water on the PS3 version of Skyrim after a specific patch, and there's no way to fix it other than reinstalling the game?!

Look for Fallout 4 updates on PC soon, and more stable releases on consoles towards the end of 2015.