Bethesda Alerts Skyrim and Fallout 4 Players of Upcoming Issues

Here we go again. RPG developer Bethesda Game Studios has recently urged fans of its beloved titles, including Fallout 4 and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, to log in and back up their game saves ahead of upcoming updates.

“As a precaution, prior to these updates we encourage players to log into your game save if you haven’t done so in a while or manually save your load order,” Bethesda shared on social media. “Once your load order is saved, you’ll be able to re-download your entire Creations list at once when the update is live.”

The first update for Fallout 4 is set to roll out on Tuesday, Aug. 18, promising “general improvements” to Creations. While stability updates like these might be routine for most games, they can spell trouble for Bethesda titles, especially for players who enjoy using third-party mods. Come Tuesday, many mods currently installed in Fallout 4 could potentially break.

Some mod creators will jump into action to fix their mods, but they can only start once the update is live. Unfortunately, some mods may never see an update if their creators have moved on. Mod creators are already preparing for a wave of frustrated players whose games may no longer function as expected.

For two games that are staples in the gaming community, this is significant news. Recently, Skyrim players have been flocking to a groundbreaking mod that enhances the game’s graphics without demanding high processing power. Even on a random Monday afternoon during work hours, over 34,000 players are logged into Skyrim on Steam alone. Mods are a major draw for playing Bethesda games on PC, so this situation is likely to impact a large portion of that player base. Many are expressing their concerns on social media about the hassle of downloading numerous mod updates just to restore their gaming experience.

Bethesda hasn’t provided a specific date for Skyrim’s update, only indicating that it will arrive soon. While this isn’t the end of the world—Bethesda tends to do this periodically—it’s sure to create some headaches for players. In addition to backing up saves, fans are advising each other to disable automatic updates on Steam until their favorite mods are updated.

“At this rate, The Elder Scrolls 6 will be less technically advanced than Skyrim by the time it comes out.”