Fallout 76 is not launching on Steam

Bethesda joins other publishers in making its next, hotly anticipated game available outside of Steam.

Fallout 76, Bethesda's upcoming online-focused RPG, will not launch on Steam on November 14. Bethesda confirmed this long running rumour to PC Gamer.

Instead, as you may have guessed already, Fallout 76 will be a Bethesda launcher exclusive - at least for launch. "The PC version of Fallout 76, for both the B.E.T.A. and the launch, will be available only via Bethesda.net, not on Steam," Bethesda told the site.

The game's official website, and the beta FAQ now reflect this fact more clearly. Some had assumed this would be the case, seeing as the Steam logo didn't appear anywhere on the site, and no mentions of the platform were made in the FAQ itself.

This is obviously big news, as Fallout 76 is effectively the first major Bethesda game to skip Steam. Pay attention, however, and you'll realise Bethesda has been trying to do this for years.

Quake Champions, Fallout Shelter both started out as Bethesda launcher-exclusive games before later coming to Steam. In Quake Champions' case, the open beta had a couple of short months' head start on Bethesda's launcher, whereas it was eight months in Fallout Shelter's case.

The same could happen with Fallout 76, though Bethesda may just use it as a launching pad for its own platform and keep it away from Steam for good.

The FAQ also confirms that the Fallout 76 beta, due to start sometime in October, will be the full version of the game. Progress made during the beta will carry over to the full version in November.

Check out this story for a recap of everything we know about Fallout 76.

Fallout 76 is out November 14 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.