There's bad news for PS4 owners currently enjoying the delights of Bethesda's open-world RPG games. The developer has just announced that neither its post-apocalyptic role player Fallout 4, nor its soon-to-be-remastered fantasy predecessor The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be getting long-awaited mod support on Sony's console.
Mod support has long been a boon of the PC gaming community, but Bethesda had planned to level the playing field by bringing that functionality to the PS4 and Xbox One. In the case of Sony's console, that dream has just been nuked.
Bethesda burn
According to a post on the Bethesda blog:
"After months of discussion with Sony, we regret to say that while we have long been ready to offer mod support on PlayStation 4, Sony has informed us they will not approve user mods the way they should work: where users can do anything they want for either Fallout 4 or Skyrim Special Edition."
Bethesda seems to be putting the blame squarely at Sony's feet - its wording here suggests Sony is not prepared to navigate the minefield of inappropriate content and IP infringement that can sometimes come with unfettered mod creation.
Bethesda continued: "Like you, we are disappointed by Sony's decision given the considerable time and effort we have put into this project, and the amount of time our fans have waited for mod support to arrive.
"We consider this an important initiative and we hope to find other ways user mods can be available for our PlayStation audience. However, until Sony will allow us to offer proper mod support for PS4, that content for Fallout 4 and Skyrim on PlayStation 4 will not be available."
Mod-forsaken
Bethesda promises it "will provide an update if and when this situation changes". But for Fallout fans on Sony's console, the irradiated grass may be looking greener on the Xbox One, where mod support has been active on Fallout 4 since late May.
Though the developer has been offering a steady stream of DLC for Fallout 4 since its November 2015 release, that well dries up with the Nuka World pack, which released at the end of August. While PC and Xbox gamers will be able to prolong play with mod support, today's news essentially puts Fallout 4 to rest on PS4.
And while the spruced up visuals for the remastered The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition version will make it a cut above what PlayStation 3 gamers enjoyed, continued mod support will make the forthcoming re-release more attractive on Xbox One.
We've asked Sony for comment on the news, and will update this piece when we hear back from the company.
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