Bethesda.net Is Shutting Down And Migrating To Steam
Bethesda has announced that it's going to be shuttering its Bethesda.net desktop game launcher in 2022, with plans to migrate everything over to Steam beforehand. While this does mean no more playing PC games directly through Bethesda.net, the company states that it won't affect console users in any perceivable way.
Conversely, while PC users who have been using the launcher will need to make some adjustments, Bethesda says that the change shouldn't create any significant problems. Your game libraries, friends lists, and Wallet contents will be carried over to Steam — so long as you take the time to migrate everything over to Valve's platform.
Exact dates for both the option to start migrating and when the shut down will happen haven't been given, but Bethesda is saying that anyone using the PC launcher will be able to start transferring things over in "early" April, 2022. Likewise, it says that you'll still have access to your games through the Bethesda.net launcher "until May" of 2022.
Once shut down, you won't be able to play any of your Bethesda.net games through the launcher. However, you won't lose those games. So long as you complete the migration process, you'll still be able to play all your Bethesda games via Steam.
What to expect
In a general sense, nothing is going to change for Bethesda.net users through the months of February or March, 2022. And even then, once everything is migrated over to Steam Bethesda expects that the only significant difference will be the name of the launcher you use to access your games.
Any games you own through Bethesda.net will be available for free in Steam, and "many" of your game saves should transfer over with no problem — though it does acknowledge that you might have to manually copy certain save data over. In particular, at the moment it looks like Wolfenstein: Youngblood is the one game that won't support save transfers, but that could change. Either way it says it will provide instructions once migration becomes available.
It goes on to say that virtual currencies (including the content of your Bethesda.net Wallet), add-ons, and DLC content should also transfer over to Steam automatically.
Fallout 76 players can expect the same, with character info, C.A.M.P builds, Atoms, Seasons progress, and friends lists all carrying over to Steam through the migration process. The only notable differences are that all future public test server phases will only be accessible through Steam, and that Fallout 1st memberships won't automatically renew starting in April. Instead, subscribers will have to manually renew their membership through Steam after it expires.