Fallout 4 is getting free PS5, Xbox Series X|S & PC upgrade in 2023

Bethesda has made the surprise announcement of a free upgrade to Fallout 4 that will take advantage of the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and modern high-end gaming PCs. The native ports of the game will be coming out sometime in 2023.

The current gen update for Fallout 4 will add a performance mode for higher frame rates, new quality features for 4K resolution gameplay, bug fixes and bonus Creation Club content.

The announcement is a part of the 25th anniversary celebrations for the franchise which they’ve been highlighting on the Fallout website, and a great surprise for owners of the game. Fallout 4 was originally released in 2015 for the original PS4, Xbox One and PCs of the day, but with the release of several expansion packs, Bethesda also updated the game to support the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X as they were released in 2016 and 2017. All the while, though, the game was stuck with a 30fps cap on console.

With the dawn of the new generation and the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, Microsoft pulled a rabbit out of their backward compatibility hat. Shortly before the launch of the Xbox Series X|S in late 2020 (and around the time that they announced the Bethesda acquisition), they revealed FPS Boost for Xbox One games. This would enable the new consoles to run Xbox One games with 60fps instead of 30fps, and Fallout 4 was one of the first examples of this.

When FPS Boost was enabled in early 2021 we took a look at Fallout 4’s performance. In practice, Fallout 4’s FPS Boost foregoes Xbox One X enhancements, limiting the game to the base Xbox One graphic settings, but does enable solid 60fps on Xbox Series X. The other option was to use game mods that were already able to circumvent the 30fps frame rate cap on Series X while retaining the Xbox One X enhancements, this allowed for playing at 2160p at a not-entirely-perfect 60fps and with some other quirks.

In theory, an updated Fallout 4 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S should remove the need for these mods, fixing some of the quirky visual glitches that they enable, and create better graphics profiles that can lock the game to 60fps. We’ll have to wait for more specifics and details from Bethesda, but it’s great to see them give a little love to one of their older games (that isn’t Skyrim).

Source: Fallout