Fallout 76 Beta Bug on PC is Forcing Some Players to Re-Download the Entire Game

Houston, we have a problem.

News by Matt Kim, News Editor

30 October 2018

Today is the first day the Fallout 76 beta is playable on PC and PS4, or at least it should be. According to Bethesda and PC players on social media there seems to be an issue with the Bethesda launcher deleting pre-loaded copies of the Fallout 76 beta.

"We are actively investigating an issue causing PC players to redownload the [Fallout 76 beta]. If you see a progress bar, please allow the download to complete," Bethesda tweeted from the official Fallout Twitter account.

We are actively investigating an issue causing PC players to redownload the #Fallout76 B.E.T.A. If you see a progress bar, please allow the download to complete. Thank you for your continued patience while we work to resolve this issue.
— Fallout (@Fallout) October 30, 2018

Players online who pre-loaded the Fallout 76 beta (as we recommended) appear to be booting up their PC copies for the first time in time for the beta only to find that the launcher has somehow removed the beta from the PC and is re-downloading the entire beta, which clocks in at around 44GB in size.

Bethesda: Fallout 76 is going to be big! Make sure you pre-download the game before the beta! Me: Okay! It's downloaded and i'm ready!Bethesda: deletes all files right as the beta goes live for 4 hoursMy Download: pic.twitter.com/ABwfaYrRDq
— Carl (@_Kiarac) October 30, 2018

There goes all my beta time :))))) pic.twitter.com/jULRnNXciT
— Quota (@RA_KRZ) October 30, 2018

Mine won't complete eventhough I'm past the amount reported to download. The launcher is so confused the ETA is bonkers. pic.twitter.com/qRG0uV7Pwl
— Jason (@MuerteJD) October 30, 2018

Some Xbox One players are also reporting having to re-download the beta on their consoles as well, suggesting this isn't just a PC-only bug.

I had to redownload the Xbox version as well pic.twitter.com/E9v23yPrCZ
— Nathan Ball (@TheNemesisZone_) October 30, 2018

No word yet as to the reason for this problem, but beta testers who must redownload Fallout 76 are worried they'll miss the beta window which is open for four hours from 4pm PT to 8pm PT. Bethesda hasn't announced whether it will be offering an extension to account for this technical issue.

This is a developing story and we will have more info as we learn more. In the meantime, check out our Fallout 76 beta guide for everything we know including beta times, system requirements, and more.

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Matt Kim

News Editor

Matt Kim is a former freelance writer who's covered video games and digital media. He likes video games as spectacle and is easily distracted by bright lights or clever bits of dialogue. He also once wrote about personal finance, but that's neither here nor there.