Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition sparks backlash, disgruntled fans express disappointment via Steam reviews

Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition Designed to celebrate Bethesda's post-apocalyptic role-playing game's tenth birthday. But it turns out that things didn't quite go as planned, as the update faced a lot of backlash on Steam.

The $59.99 Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition includes six official Fallout 4 expansion packs and over 150 Creation Club items (paid mods). But Bethesda is also selling a Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition upgrade for $39.99 to existing owners of the base game.

While Bethesda notes that the upgrade offers discounts on all items sold separately, fans have criticized the Anniversary Edition's pricing, especially considering Fallout 4 itself is already a decade old and what the Anniversary Edition actually gets you. It's worth noting that the Fallout 4 base game is currently selling for $19.99 on Steam (launch price was $59.99), while the Fallout 4 Game of the Year Edition (which includes the base game and all six official expansion packs) is $39.99.

The Fallout 4 – Creations Bundle contains 150 paid mods released as part of the Anniversary Edition, which sell individually for $19.99. The bundle's Steam store page bore the brunt of the criticism, with a “mostly negative” user review rating.

Complaints there report crashing issues, glitches, and even problems getting new mods to work. In the meantime, it sounds like the Anniversary Edition is breaking from previous mods, though Bethesda warns of this happening when it comes to mods affecting new Creation Club menu.

According to Steam, the most helpful comment was “Be a Gamer in 2025.” “You purchased the content. You can't get the content in-game. Bethesda's update will cause more crashes. Trying to quit the game will cause the game to crash. GG.”

“Fallout 4” benefit level list

“Fallout 4” benefit level list

“It comes out like crazy and doesn't offer all the creations mentioned in the bundle,” another review reported. “The game absolutely won't let you try to install anything involving the Creation Club, and freezes when launching and exiting the game to the point where you can't even force close it using Task Manager or Steam. This is worse than Skyrim's Anniversary Edition release, for God's sake, Bethesda. Fix your game.”

Reactions on Reddit's Fallout subreddit echoed similar sentiments, and yes, the memes have started.

I'd like to thank Bethesda for charging me £20 for some extra pip boy colors on Fallout 4's 10th anniversary and rewarding me by making my game impossible to launch at all.

Even with the new script extender I had to remove all modules and reinstall everything. epic! ! ! ! pic.twitter.com/7dIm8CRuao

— Mickey D (@DeMickyD) November 11, 2025

This backlash has also spread to the Steam reviews of the base Fallout 4 game, with a deluge of negative reviews following the release of the Anniversary Edition, causing recent reviews to plummet to “mixed”.

“They just killed the game with this anniversary update,” reads one negative review of the base Fallout 4 game. “Won't be sorting through my 400+ mods as that will take a few days. Goodbye Fallout, I'd like to say I'll miss you, but I won't.”

It's a disappointing start to a major push for Fallout ahead of its much-anticipated Season 2 launch on Prime Video in December. A new Fallout: New Vegas bundle is also coming soon, and a Fallout 76-themed Fallout TV series update will be available in December. Hopefully Bethesda can address these issues soon.

Fallout 4 – Creations Menu Update November 10th Patch Notes:

• Creation menu: A new in-game creation menu has been added, making it easier than ever to discover, download and enjoy content from professional developers and passionate fans.

Gameplay and performance

• VATS accuracy:VATS hit rate is now consistent across platforms and no longer drops to 0% or displays incorrect values. It is no longer possible to target enemies through walls without the Penetrator ability.
• NPC visual creation:Fixed stuttering and stuttering issues caused by editing the creation of NPC visual effects. Performance is improved when using this type of creation.

stability and crashes

• BNET connection:Better handling when presentbethesda.com power failure
• Production site crashes:Interacting with the Crafting Station or Workshop on ultrawide monitors no longer causes a crash.

Ultrawide and ultra-ultrawide support

• UI and HUD scaling:UI elements, HUD backgrounds, and item previews now scale correctly for 21:9 and 32:9 aspect ratios. Menus, quest updates, tutorials, workshops, and inspected objects are no longer stretched or squashed.
• Pip-Boy Map:Players can now place markers in the Pip-Boy, fast travel, and pan the map to the right when using ultrawide resolution.
• Save preview image:Save preview images now have letterboxing to avoid looking squashed on ultrawide monitors.

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• Resolution detection:Auto-detection now sets supported display resolutions, preventing crashes on startup.

Wesley is IGN News Director. Find him on Twitter: @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at [email protected] or privately at [email protected].