Bethesda is closing its PC game client and migrating purchases to Steam

[Daniel Sims]

What just happened? Ever since Microsoft acquired Zenimax and Bethesda, many have wondered about the long-term fate of Bethesda’s PC game launcher. Bethesda now has a definitive answer with its announcement of the client’s closure and the migration of its content to Steam.

This week, Bethesda announced that it would start letting its PC game client users start migrating their purchases and wallets to their Steam accounts in early April. The launcher will no longer be accessible beginning in May.

Bethesda will provide details on migrating games when the feature becomes available, but it won't cost anything. Save files will also transfer. Most will carry over to the new platform automatically. However, users might have to move some manually. If that means copying the files in Windows Explorer, checking where each game stores its files at PCGamingWiki would be prudent. Wolfenstein: Youngblood is the only known title that will not automatically or manually transfer game progression over for some unstated reason.

Bethesda accounts themselves won’t go away. You’ll still need one to play Fallout 76, download Bethesda-hosted mods for Fallout 4 and Skyrim, and use some online features in other games. Friends lists in Fallout 76, Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, Elder Scrolls Legends, Rage 2, and Deathloop will also transfer to Steam.

Bethesda's next major game is Ghostwire: Tokyo, launching on March 25. It isn't on the Microsoft Store yet because of its console-exclusivity deal with PlayStation, which pre-dates Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda, just like Deathloop. Unsurprisingly, Ghostwire's pre-order page doesn't even include an option for Bethesda's launcher—only for Steam and Epic Games.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/93507-bethesda-closing-pc-game-client-migrating-purchases-steam.html

 

[nodfor]

Yes!

 

[Shadowboxer]

Why are Bethesda accounts going to steam and not the Xbox app? Im not complaining, I would rather have a game on steam than Xbox but with the MS acquisition of Bethesda I would have expected MS to push users to the Xbox app. Thats exactly what they are forcing us to do with Minecraft on March the 11th and it sucks!

Edit: I was wrong, it seems we arent quite forced to use the Xbox app just yet. But the launcher is now available on the Xbox app and MS seem to want you to use that one, adding an extra step for us.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Why are Bethesda accounts going to steam and not the Xbox app? Im not complaining, I would rather have a game on steam than Xbox but with the MS acquisition of Bethesda I would have expected MS to push users to the Xbox app. Thats exactly what they are forcing us to do with Minecraft on March the 11th and it sucks!

When I moved my account to MS from Mojang, I was surprised that I had an MS account already. I think I made it for Forza Horizon 4. I guess launchers are just horse-trading their games and accounts nowadays.

 

[Shadowboxer]

When I moved my account to MS from Mojang, I was surprised that I had an MS account already. I think I made it for Forza Horizon 4. I guess launchers are just horse-trading their games and accounts nowadays.

You were surprised you had an MS account? But you need an MS account to use Windows 10, or at least a lot of it. And you must have Windows 10 if you are using the Xbox app?

 

[psycros]

There's no reason that Bethesda couldn't migrate all their mods to the Workshop.

 

[passwordistaco]

You were surprised you had an MS account? But you need an MS account to use Windows 10, or at least a lot of it. And you must have Windows 10 if you are using the Xbox app?

I don't use an MS account on any of my Win10 installs. Not missing out on anything.

 

[terzaerian]

Na na na na! Na na na na! Hey hey hey! Goodbyyyyeee!

And good riddance. Maybe now Fallout 4's GECK will be on Steam.

There's no reason that Bethesda couldn't migrate all their mods to the Workshop.

Probably a bad taste in their mouth from the first time they tried to implement a paid mods scheme. I imagine Valve wants nothing to do with that again either.

 

[amghwk]

Bethesda has a launcher? Never knew that.

 

[Lew Zealand]

You were surprised you had an MS account? But you need an MS account to use Windows 10, or at least a lot of it. And you must have Windows 10 if you are using the Xbox app?

I have W10 from work as I use my PC for work and gaming and I never use the XBox app. It'd been a long time since installing Forza so I'd forgotten that required the MS account and it doesn't remind you of this at all in-game. Until finally migrating my MC account, I just didn't use my MS account much. LOL, it took a while even to remember what the username was and the email I used to set it up. I'm glad I didn't make a second one by mistake and then need to somehow merge them later.

Which I've done in a number of other places, sigh...

 

[Dimitriid]

Couldn't Microsoft update their store to provide all the necessary games?

Seems like a terrible way to start managing one of their recent acquisitions: "You can't run a competing store front...But we also can't be bothered to get some coders to work with you to use *our* store so just go use Steam" wtf?

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Not since Fallout 3 which I bought as a DVD, have I installed a Bethesda game outside of Steam. I didn't even know they had a game launcher.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Thank God. I hate using the Bethesda launcher.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Good

Couldn't Microsoft update their store to provide all the necessary games?

Seems like a terrible way to start managing one of their recent acquisitions: "You can't run a competing store front...But we also can't be bothered to get some coders to work with you to use *our* store so just go use Steam" wtf?

MS knows where their bread is buttered. While we do not have MS's internal numbers, all previous attempts to force the use of the windows store have been abysmal, and MS knows that a huge chunk of PC players will not use the MS store, hence why they go to the titan of the industry, steam.

That's why halo infinite is on steam, as is MCC. And forza.

You were surprised you had an MS account? But you need an MS account to use Windows 10, or at least a lot of it. And you must have Windows 10 if you are using the Xbox app?

You dont need a MS account to use windows 10. Where on earth did you hear that from?

You DO need one to use windows 11 home, but that's a completely different bucket of fish.

 

[ypsylon]

Now if only EA do the same with Origin. Oh please let it happen.

Origin is simply the worst piece of software ever conceived by man. How its possible that Steam opens in perhaps 3 seconds in total, but running game linked with Origin take O a minute to initialize and half of the time libraries hang in memory requiring system restart for Origin to start properly. FFS I hate it on every imaginable level.

 

[Watzupken]

Bethesda has a launcher? Never knew that.

Likewise. Haha. But in any case, I think it is good to consolidate all these launchers. Every publisher wants us to install their launcher which is quite annoying. For all you know, some of these may have gaping security issues which they are not bothered to fix. So the more of such applications we have installed, the higher the risk. Not to mention that it is also possible that they are sucking system resources when they auto launch at startup.

 

[Watzupken]

Good
MS knows where their bread is buttered. While we do not have MS's internal numbers, all previous attempts to force the use of the windows store have been abysmal, and MS knows that a huge chunk of PC players will not use the MS store, hence why they go to the titan of the industry, steam.

That's why halo infinite is on steam, as is MCC. And forza.

If MS wants to focus on PC and Xbox, then on the PC, their best partner is going to be Steam since that is where most of the gamers are on. MS store is probably one of the least visited store, so chances of success there is as good as 0. MS know it themselves, thus, they are moving their games to Steam, and you can also observe the lack of any improvements in the MS store as they have pretty much deprioritized it.

 

[terzaerian]

MS knows where their bread is buttered. While we do not have MS's internal numbers, all previous attempts to force the use of the windows store have been abysmal, and MS knows that a huge chunk of PC players will not use the MS store, hence why they go to the titan of the industry, steam.

I'm old enough to remember when the launchers were proliferating with Epic, Origin, whatever Ubisoft does, Bethesda, etc, and people were like "well lol what you gonna do, just buy an SSD, Steam is over" and I was like "f*ck that and f*ck you".

Thanks to people like me holding the line, the insanity is ending. You're BLOODY welcome.

 

[FaTaL]

Cant believe typing this but bravo MS. The less game launchers the better.

 

[theulrich2005]

I have W10 from work as I use my PC for work and gaming and I never use the XBox app. It'd been a long time since installing Forza so I'd forgotten that required the MS account and it doesn't remind you of this at all in-game. Until finally migrating my MC account, I just didn't use my MS account much. LOL, it took a while even to remember what the username was and the email I used to set it up. I'm glad I didn't make a second one by mistake and then need to somehow merge them later.

Which I've done in a number of other places, sigh...

I have W10 from work as I use my PC for work and gaming and I never use the XBox app. It'd been a long time since installing Forza so I'd forgotten that required the MS account and it doesn't remind you of this at all in-game. Until finally migrating my MC account, I just didn't use my MS account much. LOL, it took a while even to remember what the username was and the email I used to set it up. I'm glad I didn't make a second one by mistake and then need to somehow merge them later.

Which I've done in a number of other places, sigh...

I have W10 from work as I use my PC for work and gaming and I never use the XBox app. It'd been a long time since installing Forza so I'd forgotten that required the MS account and it doesn't remind you of this at all in-game. Until finally migrating my MC account, I just didn't use my MS account much. LOL, it took a while even to remember what the username was and the email I used to set it up. I'm glad I didn't make a second one by mistake and then need to somehow merge them later.

Which I've done in a number of other places, sigh...

I have W10 from work as I use my PC for work and gaming and I never use the XBox app. It'd been a long time since installing Forza so I'd forgotten that required the MS account and it doesn't remind you of this at all in-game. Until finally migrating my MC account, I just didn't use my MS account much. LOL, it took a while even to remember what the username was and the email I used to set it up. I'm glad I didn't make a second one by mistake and then need to somehow merge them later.

Which I've done in a number of other places, sigh...

I have W10 from work as I use my PC for work and gaming and I never use the XBox app. It'd been a long time since installing Forza so I'd forgotten that required the MS account and it doesn't remind you of this at all in-game. Until finally migrating my MC account, I just didn't use my MS account much. LOL, it took a while even to remember what the username was and the email I used to set it up. I'm glad I didn't make a second one by mistake and then need to somehow merge them later.

Which I've done in a number of other places, sigh...

ea dose have games on steam like star wars the old republic online apex ect