Bethesda launched its own game launcher, Bethesda.net Launcher, back in 2016, which allowed players to purchase games directly on its official website and then launch them directly, and Bethesda did this for the simple and obvious purpose of bypassing the 30% draw on Steam. But now it looks like this as-if scheme didn’t work out as well as Bethesda originally envisioned, and the payoff was expected to be as high as Bethesda will officially shut down its own game launcher in April.
With a simple email, Bethesda announced this major change that may worry many gamers. The company thanks and reassures the Bethesda community for their support. It assures that players will not lose their games. The press release states.
“If you have your games through the Bethesda.net launcher, don’t worry. Starting in early April, you will be able to migrate your games and wallet to your Steam account.”
So the abolition of the launcher is not yet in sight. There are still several weeks to prepare and most importantly, back up your content to another platform, Steam. This migration will include your game library and wallet. But beware, it’s noted
“Many games will also have their game saves migrated, but some will require a manual transfer. For games that require this, you will still need to use your Bethesda.net credentials to log in and play. Your Bethesda.net account will not be lost but will continue to be accessible on the website and in-game, and we will continue our support for all Bethesda.net accounts in our future titles.”
The next step is set for early April. At that time, it will be possible to begin this migration process by following instructions that will be detailed at that time.
The Bethesda.net launcher will be up and running until May. You will still be able to access and play your games through this service.