‘Fallout 4’ Xbox One Mods Nearly Break Bethesda With 50 Times Traffic Of PC Launch

Mods officially arrived Tuesday for Fallout 4 on the Xbox One and the response from the game’s community has far exceeded even Bethesda Game Studios’ expectations. The developer responded to overwhelming traffic experienced since mods launched on the console.

Bethesda Game Studios revealed the traffic for the launch of official mod support from the Xbox One was 50 times that of the PC mod launch just a few weeks ago. The news was shared via the following Twitter post.

Xbox traffic was 50x the initial #Fallout4 PC mod launch. It's a new world & just the beginning. New features & PS4 support in the works.

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) June 1, 2016

The amount of traffic led to some issues with Xbox One owners downloading Fallout 4 mods the first day they were available. Bethesda Softworks Vice President of Marketing Pete Hines apologized for the issues by noting the amount of traffic far exceeded all expectations.

Again, apologies for outages and issues you've had. We expected more…not FIFTY TIMES more than PC launch. https://t.co/0LKHZX9Qis

— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) June 1, 2016

The added demand for mods on the console is understandable. Developers typically bring mods over to consoles themselves, such as Studio Wildcard did with The Center map for ARK: Survival Evolved. Or, they create their own mod-like add-ons like Mojang plans to do with Minecraft this summer. Meanwhile, PC gamers already had access to Fallout 4 mods via the Nexus Mods community since the game launched last November.

Fallout 4 players can visit the Mods menu in-game to browse and search for mods, choose favorites, post feedback, and install them from within the game. This is essentially the same experience from the Bethesda website but with the added convenience of not having to visit the website to download and install the mod.

The Bethesda website plays home to a mod section for Fallout 4 that features a growing list of mods. It is divided up between most popular, latest, highest-rated, and most-favorited mods. A filter is also available along with the ability to search mods or view the mods that you have downloaded. Mods can be favorited or downloaded directly from the website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kL_pcbBdZ0

Xbox One owners that wish to use Fallout 4 mods will need to make sure they have a Bethesda.net account set up. You will be required to log in to the account to access and install the mods for the console.

There is a 2GB limit on the amount of mods that can be downloaded on consoles. The file sizes of each mod are displayed in the menu along with how much space players are using and how much space is remaining. Many mods are less than a megabyte in size while others can reach 400MB or more.

Fallout 4 games played with mods will be saved separately with a “[Modded]” tag versus games played without mods. Players should be sure to disable all mods when trying to play an unmodded game save. Additionally, be aware the amount of mods installed do appear to affect the performance of loading into a game.

The number of mods available for the Xbox One include new weapons, new character skins, new locations, cheats, settlement items, and more. It appears that most of the content available for the PC will be available for console. There are currently just under 1,000 mods available for the Xbox One edition of Fallout 4 on Bethesda’s website, while the PC version has just over 1,400.

Those interested in creating their own mods can download the Creation Kit for PC to start making their own Fallout 4 mods. A free download link is available from the game’s launcher to get you started. You’ll also want to visit the Creation Kit Wiki to expand your knowledge and learn everything from how to create new items in the game to creating your own scripts for player conversations.

“Mods and the players who create them have always been an important part of our games, going all the way back to Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls Construction Set. We believe that our games become something much more special, when we put the power of creation in your hands. New quests, environments, characters, dialogue, outfits, weapons and more – with Mods, the possibilities of what you can do are endless. You are creating new experiences that enhance and take our games into amazing and surprising new directions.

“For ‘Fallout 4,’ our goal was to make Mods easier and more accessible than ever before – for both the creators and the players. By building an all-new system with Bethesda.net we’ve made a huge leap forward in achieving that.”

[Image via Bethesda]