Fallout 4 PC Update Introduces Paid Content Curation System

Fallout 4 received a new update on PC today that finally adds support for Creation Club, Bethesda's collection of additional content created by developers and community members. Alongside Creation Club, the patch also fixes some bugs and adds a Message of the Day.

In essence, Creation Club is Bethesda's attempt at monetizing new content and mods. Following the paid mods controversy in Skyrim, Bethesda announced this service as a sort of compromise. Bethesda works with top modders in the community to help them start earning money. In an interview with GameSpot at E3 2017, Bethesda marketing VP Pete Hines explained that the company "bring[s modders] in as, now you're a game developer with us, not on a mod."

All content must be created for Creation Club specifically; Bethesda promises on its website that it won't retrofit existing mods to become paid. In addition, this new content must go through Bethesda's QA process and will be compatible with all mods. Pete Hines said on Twitter that Creation Club content is more like "mini DLCs" than mods.

All players will get 100 Credits, Bethesda's digital currency, for free to start out with for Creation Club content; additional Credits can be bought on digital storefronts. It's all pretty confusing, and we'll likely not fully know how it works until it launches on all platforms and creators start releasing content through it. Bethesda itself said today, "It's easier to explain Creation Club by trying it yourself."

Alongside Creation Club, the update also adds a few other features. There's now a Message of the Day in-game, support for the ESL file format, and patch version numbers and notes on the in-game Mod Details page. Further, it fixes a bunch of bugs and improves stability related to turning mods on and off.

The update is currently only available in beta through Steam; you must go into the Steam menus for Fallout 4 and select the beta update manually to install it. Creation Club is also coming to PS4 and Xbox One sometime soon. Further, it's planned to be released for Skyrim: Special Edition on consoles and PC this September.