Exploring Bethesda's Gaming Legacy and Fallout 4 Accessibility
Jessica Hardy
Updated on May 17, 2026
By Published May 3, 2026, 6:30 AM EDT James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
The mainline single-player series is going to be on ice for a while to come yet with Bethesda almost entirely focused on finally getting out into public hands before they have a riot to deal with.
Whilst that's obviously totally fair enough, it comes as scant consolation to long-time fans of Bethesda's post-apocalyptic wastes. The best thing to do in the meantime is to return to the excellent older games, the most recent of which is Fallout 4. If you haven't played it before and the Prime Video adaptation has given you a hankering, you might not realize that you don't necessarily need to pay for it.
Despite Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax Media, both PlayStation and Xbox players (as well as those on PC), can access Fallout 4 at no additional cost, if they're signed up to either PlayStation Plus Extra or , at any level for the latter.
The third mainline game in the 3D era of the franchise, Fallout 4 had a bit of a divisive launch (not helped by the release of the Anniversary Edition ten years later), but it’s in a pretty solid state these days. Its open-world is a ton of fun to explore, and you can engage with the additional mechanics like base building as much or as little as you wish.
At the same time, if Fallout 4 isn't to your liking, Game Pass subscribers can also access Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, and , all of which offer different enough experiences that you should find something to like in at least one of them.
If playing through those games gives you a hankering for more of Bethesda's creations, the aforementioned acquisition of the company means that almost all of their back catalog is now included on Game Pass. That range includes , Wolfenstein, Doom, and the Elder Scrolls series, meaning there's a ton of fun to be had for no outlay, if you're already signed up to the service.
The reduction in the price of Game Pass has done wonders for its perceived value in the eyes of players. Though Day One titles were lost as a result of that move, most agreed it was a sensible business decision to bring the cost down from astronomical levels at the Ultimate tier.
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Questions still remain about exclusivity and the future of the Fallout franchise, (as well as Elder Scrolls), so we'll have to sit tight and wait to see whether PlayStation players will be able to join in the fun at launch when new games drop.
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