Bethesda pulled out the red pencil and shipped the in-house Bethesda.Net launcher to the siding. As early as May, the software for PC players should finally go offline. However, anyone who has purchased games through the application can breathe a sigh of relief – because Bethesda offers you a way out: Steam.
Bethesda.Net launcher going offline in May
Bethesda is burying one of its projects: the in-house Bethesda.Net launcher. The studio officially announced this on its own website. The application will be taken offline as early as May – but what exactly does this mean for PC players who have purchased and play some of Bethesda’s games through the application? Are the licenses simply disappearing into nirvana?
Fortunately not. In fact, Bethesda offers a very attractive contingency plan for all PC gamers. From April, they will be able to transfer all of their games, add-ons, DLCs and wallet to Steam for free. Incidentally, the Bethesda.Net accounts will not be deleted. According to the company, players will still be able to access their account through the official website and some games – only the launcher will be abandoned. Bethesda also confirms that the accounts will also be supported in future games.
Bethesda plans to publish exact details about the move to Steam as soon as the feature is available. At the beginning of April there should be detailed instructions that explain the migration process for all PC players (source: Bethesda). Bethesda also notes that PC gamers not have the option to switch to another provider outside of Steam. Switching platforms to PlayStation or Xbox is also not supported.
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What happens to my saved games?
As described in the official FAQ, you will be able to move to Steam along with all your saved games. For some games, this process should run automatically. However, there should be exceptions where you have to manually copy the relevant files to a new directory. Here, too, Bethesda wants to publish detailed instructions for the corresponding games at the beginning of April, which describe how this process takes place.
By the way, players of The Elder Scrolls Online can rest easy. Bethesda explains in the blog that the MMORPG is not affected by the changes.
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