Fallout 4released back on May 23, 2025, launching for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. While gamers can roam the Commonwealth on newer hardware, there wasn’t really a benefit to playing on next-gen systems. Now, this looks to change as Bethesda has unveiled plans to giveFallout 4a next-gen update in 2023 as part of the celebration ofFallout’s25th anniversary. The update will be available for those who own an Xbox Series X/S, PS5, or PC, and comes with new Creation Club content, performance and quality modes allowing for 120fps and 4K play, as well as some bug fixes to make the experience a bit smoother.
While this all sounds positive initially, and many will be glad to have another chance to support Preston Garvey in his never-ending quest to help all settlements,Fallout 4’sbig upgradeholds more than just a few new features for fans. Specifically, it seems that the announcement of this next-gen update could give gamers some indication of what the future ofFalloutholds, as well as what plans Bethesda has for the franchise in the coming years.
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Fallout 4is a game that received plenty of critical praise, and it did introduce some big steps forward for Bethesda games, such as allowing a voiced protagonist. This means that giving it a next-gen upgrade certainly isn’t a bad idea, and it has been seven years since it first launched, meaning that there are likely plenty of gamers who haven’t yet had the chance to step out of Vault 111. However, from the announcement ofFallout 4’snext-gen upgrades it seems all the more certain thatFallout 5is a long time away.
Fans were already aware thatFallout 5’srelease could be coming much later than they’d first hoped, especially after Todd Howard confirmed the game wouldn’t be coming untilafter the launch ofElder Scrolls 6. ConsideringStarfield, Bethesda’s latest project, isn’t out yet, and all fans have seen so far fromThe Elder Scrolls 6is a cinematic teaser,Fallout 5is clearly a distant project. Something that hammers home just how distant that game is though is the announcement of a next-gen update forFallout 4, which could even indicate Bethesda might not have any newFallouttitles lined up for this console generation.
Giving an old title a fresh coat of paint doesn’t exactly mean that Bethesda isn’t working on anything new, but it doesn’t instill confidence in aFallout 5-related announcement coming anytime soon. This next-gen update givesFalloutfans something of a single-player experience, but it doesn’t promise anything huge. Instead, it can be compared to one of the manyre-releases ofSkyrim, which repackaged an admittedly good experience, but also all but told gamers they wouldn’t be getting the series' next entry for some time. Despite this likely being the final nail in the coffin for any hopes of aFallout 5release somewhere in the near future, there are some positives that the next-genFallout 4update could point toward.
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Fallout 4’s Next-Gen Update Could Point Toward Remakes
There is a reason whySkyrimgetting re-released has become a meme within the gaming community, and that is because Bethesda do just keep throwing the fifthElder Scrollstitle out there. Todd Howard has stated that one of the reasonsBethesda re-releasesSkyrimso often is because people keep buying it. Even so, over the past decade it has been made clear thatSkyrimis very much at the forefront of Bethesda’s re-release schedule, and many doubted that other popular games from Bethesda would make their way to more modern systems.
However, with the announcement thatFallout 4is getting a next-gen upgrade, Bethesda has finally shown fans it can focus on titles that aren’tSkyrim. While theFallout 4next-gen upgrade isn’t a full remake, it does add some important features such as allowing for 4K gameplay and 120fps, alongside adding plenty of fixes for the game’s bugs. IfFallout 4has been shown some love by Bethesda, this opens up the prospect for other titles in the franchise to make a return while the grand wait forFallout 5continues.
A lot of fans of the series would want a remake ofFallout: New Vegas. Releasing in 2010,Fallout: New Vegasis seen by many as the best entry in the series to date, and a modern remake of it would likely sell well due to the game’s reputation. Previously, while fans were asking for aFallout: New Vegasremake, it seemed a lot less likely due to the fact that Bethesda seemed primarily focused onStarfieldand the developer ofNew Vegas, Obsidian, is also working on other projects.
With the announcement ofFallout 4’supdate, this changes slightly, as it shows that Bethesda is working on things outside its ambitious sci-fi RPGStarfield. Also, apart from the next-gen upgrade announcement forFallout 4, an Obsidian co-founder also recently stated the company would be heavily invested inworking on anotherFalloutgame, which also seems to support the idea that remakes are not impossible.
There hasn’t yet been an official announcement of aFallout: New Vegasremake, but rumors have sporadically floated around the internet. WhetherFallout 4’snext-gen upgrade means anything in regard to remakes or not remains to be seen, but it does seem that the update acts as somewhat of a peace offering for fans as they wait out any news onFallout 5. In the meantime, there are plenty of mods for the games that players can dive into if they want to adventure the wasteland once more. One ambitiousFallout 4mod even takes the series to London, for example.
Fallout 4is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in development.
