At Bethesda’s E3 briefing last night, the studio announced that Fallout 4 VR will be coming this year for the HTC Vive, but with AAA virtual reality PC content, comes prices to match.

Update: A previous version of this article stated that Fallout 4 VR was on the way for the PSVR, this is incorrect. Another Bethesda title, Doom VXR however, is coming to Sony’s VR headset and you can read all about it here.

Announced at Bethesda’s standalone event at E3 last year, then later used as a way to build hype for Microsoft’s forthcoming Project Scorpio console (just yesterday christened Xbox One X), Fallout 4 VR is in the face of it the answer to many VR gamer’s desires. A triple-A title, from a long established and beloved franchise that promises 10’s if not 100’s of hours of gameplay and a blockbuster production values – elements sorely lacking in abundance as far as VR games were concerned at the time.

A year on, and one virtual Microsoft U-turn later, Fallout 4 VR perhaps isn’t quite the great white VR hope that it once was, but there’s no doubt that such a title has the potential power to reach across the VR enthusiast / hardcore gamer divide and shift some VR headsets.

Fallout 4 is available to pre-order via Amazon right now (in the US) and direct via Steam, and its price reflects the years of development that went into the original game, in this case a cool $60. The release date is still a little foggy, coming some time in Q4 of this year and the title is being flagged as ‘supporting’ only with the HTC Vive, although given it’ll be running on SteamVR it seems unlikely that those with an Oculus Rift and Touch controllers won’t get a crack at this too, but perhaps best waiting until release brings confirmation of that before buying.

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The game itself offers the full Fallout 4 game as released toward the end of 2015 plus “all-new combat, crafting, and building systems fully re-imagined for virtual reality.” Judging by the Regardless of whether you’re a fan of the series or not, there’s no denying then that your $60 buys a ton of content.

Of course, PlayStation VR owners, being a console based system, have faced higher prices since launch compared with their PC VR brethren. Arguably too, the level of polish that has encouraged though has justified that somewhat.

Playing in VR isn’t quite like traditional monitor-based gaming though, that of course is the whole point. But I wonder how many people will manage to stomach the multi-hour play sessions it’d take to make a dent in Fallout 4’s story campaign alone. You could argue that it probably doesn’t matter after all, the sheer experience of being so effectively immersed in the game’s post apocalyptic world will be worth the ticket price alone to many.

Interestingly, judging by the title’s launch trailer, VR locomotion purists will be happy to see that so-called ‘full locomotion (i.e. in-game movement akin to the traditional game, without teleporting) is present and correct.

Fallout 4 VR is available on the HTC Vive headset via Amazon (US only currently) or direct via SteamVR for $59.99 and will be available in Q4 of this year.

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • Sunny Viji

    no, Sony been showing us AAA prices since launch,

    • I clarified the PC angle somewhat. Thanks

    • Buddydudeguy

      Yes AAA prices, for demos. There is nearly nothing for PSVR.

  • Xron

    Hope they add oculus suppport. ;)

    • Buddydudeguy

      It will work, as all SteamVR games do. Problem for me is seeing built in references to the Vive wands. I find it obnoxious. I will probably skip it due to this.

      • Jeff Axline

        Wow.

        • Buddydudeguy

          Wow wut? Words are hard?

          • TheBileStoad

            Outsider looking in. Look Buddydude, get you are passionate about Oculus. But being salty and aggressive is not the best way here. A little more sugar and a bit less vinegar.

            That is all

          • Buddydudeguy

            Speak English and come at me with a proper response, on topic.

          • J.C.

            BileStoad’s response was perfectly understandable. You’re a huge fan of oculus, and this is your first taste of seeing the “other team” get something you wanted. Being angry about it isn’t helping anything.

          • Kaleo Kripton

            J.C….. You do not need to expose Buddydudeguy thoughts in the public chat, thoughts is for private use only, do not turn it public.

      • Liberty0rDeath

        That can easily be remedied with a mod.

      • NooYawker

        All the buttons are there, it should work fine.

        • Buddydudeguy

          lol. Of course the buttons are there. But it’s lame to see Vive wands, in game.

          • NooYawker

            Ohhh.. lol. Yea but that’s only in the option screen. Man you really don’t like those wands huh?

          • Buddydudeguy

            What are you talking about? I was speaking in general. There are some Steam VR games that show the Vive wands in more than just ” the option screen”.

    • Kei Loper

      I truly hope they have Oculus support for this. If they do, I’m absolutely in to finally buy Fallout 4. It’s been a while since I’ve played 3, and VR will hopefully give me the enormous world I’m thinking.

      • Joe Black

        Fallout 4 is an amazing game. Many shoot it down, but trust me… Its amazing.

  • Get Schwifty!

    I have to say, that no support for Oculus up front undercuts the whole “open support position” that Vive owners have ranted on forever as a virtue of the Valve/Vive hegemony.

    To openly not support Oculus via Steam on a Valve game on the order of FO4 underscores the concerns that Oculus has had which drives their position to support their own store and efforts. This shows easily how the Valve/HTC partnership (and owning companies) can easily undercut Oculus (assuming Oculus didn’t turn down a collaboration) and in effect, VR as a whole. I believe support will be forthcoming, either through a hack or direct support down the line, but it’s an example of the kind of vulnerability Oculus felt in their decision to create their own store. I also don’t accept any arguments that Touch wasn’t ready as they easily could have gotten a hold of pre-release samples to work with.

    • Bethesda of course is owned by Zenimax, I suspect that may have had something to do with it. That is pure speculation of course.

      • Get Schwifty!

        Oh I agree completely that Zenimax is the primary driver here – but the examples proves the point – Oculus has always had to consider the real possibility of a lockout of their hardware with at least partial HTC/ VIVE influence and I think is the primary reason for needing exclusives to drive a presence in the market.

        • Hivemind9000

          I’m amused at why this is even a discussion. Playstation and XBox have been doing it for years. Corporations by their very nature are sociopathic – exclusives are an anti-competitive tool no matter how euphemistically you phrase it.

    • Doctor Bambi

      This is a Bethesda game, and Valve gives them the freedom to implement that game in the way they best see fit. To the contrary, if it weren’t for Valve’s efforts with the OpenVR SDK, Rift owners wouldn’t even have a chance to play this game without some kind of outside, unofficial hack.

      I do agree with you though, Oculus Home is up against a giant and they need to proceed with great care if they want to stay relevant as a storefront for the foreseeable future and exclusive content is a key part of that unfortunately.

    • StB

      I’m curious where your outrage is regarding the large number of Oculus exclusives? Seems pretty pointless to argue FOR exclusivity for your system and AGAINST it for the other system. Vive users would love to play Robo Recall, but not many of them want to pony up the cash to buy it on the Oculus store knowing that Oculus could kill Revive at any time.

      • Buddydudeguy

        Oculus don’t go “killing” Revive. It was a long time ago and it was a mistake. One that hasn’t happened since. Notice Valve refuses to give Oculus their SDK to support? That’s on them.

        • StB

          A “mistake” that they only rectified after loud public outcry hardly seems to qualify as a “mistake”. It doesn’t change the fact that the Oculus store is a walled garden, and the only way in is with a hack. Given that, there’s not a lot of people who want to pay money for games they may not be able to access in the future. When these games are released for Vive, and an inevitable hack shows up that will allow Rift users to play, will that be acceptable to you guys?

          • Buddydudeguy

            “walled garden” bukaw! Walled garden bukaw! polly want a cracker!

          • StB

            So… No valid counter argument, then? You can complain about the terminology, but it’s semantics. You can call Oculus’ Rift-exclusive store whatever you want, but that’s exactly what it is. Apparently “Walled Garden” bugs you. Sorry! We can call it “Platform Exclusivity” then, shall we? Is that easier to digest?

          • Buddydudeguy

            Talk to Valve about why they refuse to have their SDK supported on Oculus Home. That is entirely on them.

          • StB

            “SDK! Bukaw! Talk to Valve! Sqwak!”

            LOL, nah, seriously, though, what SDK are you talking about? Rift users can use OpenVR to play Steam titles. That’s not going to change. “Open”, it’s right there in the name. The only SteamVR games out there right now that you can’t play with Rift are ones by small developers who can’t code for Touch because they don’t have the funds for a Rift of their own.

          • Buddydudeguy

            Your retort doesn’t even make sense. Go research why Vive doesnt work on Oculus Home without a hack.

          • J.C.

            Mmmm, got any links pointing to HTC being the holdout? Last I checked, BOTH companies blamed the other for the lack of Vive support. The only concrete proof of anything is that Oculus hardware locked their store, and only backed down when the ReVive dev said he’d just defeat their store’s DRM to get it to work again.
            So at this point, Oculus seems the most likely culprit here. Valve isn’t part of this equation, why do you keep acting like Valve is HTC?

          • Cl

            I thought oculus said the only way they would support vive is if they make vive work with oculus sdk and vive said no. Not what you’re saying.

          • Buddydudeguy

            That’s exactly what I was referring to.

          • dogtato

            Valve supports the Rift in Valve’s sdk.
            Oculus wants Valve to do the Vive support for the Oculus sdk?
            Why is it on Valve to work on the Oculus sdk when they already made a cross-platform sdk? Is Valve doing something to prevent Oculus from adding support for the Vive? Oculus chose not to support it because they don’t want their software improvements to benefit any competing hardware. And of course it costs them resources to support other hardware.

          • Cl

            So its not valve not wanting their sdk to work on oculus home like you said… Its oculus not wanting to support anything but their own

          • Buddydudeguy

            No hack necessary. The Rift works with Steam VR. But…sure?

          • StB

            I’m well aware that the Rift works with Steam VR (ignoring that the Vive doesn’t work with the Oculus Store). The “Hack” I was referring to is the one that would likely be released within hours if Fallout 4 VR and/or Doom VR were to be hardware locked, as the Rift users fear.

          • J.C.

            If Zenimax actually blocks Rift hardware, a hack might be necessary.

        • NooYawker

          I’m not knocking oculus on exclusives but that lock out was no mistake.

      • Get Schwifty!

        Your missing the point – the point is people have pointed to HTC/VIVE as being above this and they are not, at least not necessarily in the beginning. The point is: this is a clear example of how a clear partnership between two companies can easily lock a third player out. Hence Oculus’ need to establish through exclusives their own presence to ensure against such practices. Got it?

        • J.C.

          HTC/Vive isn’t part of the equation. The only reason there’s no Oculus support is the ongoing legal battle. If the Vive didn’t exist, neither would these two games.

          That said, I think Bethesda/Zenimax are in the wrong here. They had no intention of going whole hog into VR until Oculus suddenly gained a ton of traction, $2b worth of traction. So now they’re using previously “worthless” work done by Carmack to claim they WERE interested.

        • Caven

          If this were a case of that, then it would be a simple matter of Zenimax/Bethesda putting Fallout 4 VR and Doom VFR on the Oculus store. The fact that they’re not doing that points to something other than Valve/HTC influence.

          I do agree that Oculus/Facebook have their reasons to be concerned about being locked out of other storefronts, but the situation with Fallout 4 VR and Doom VFR does not validate their concerns, because it’s not Valve/HTC blocking Rift support in this case. It’s not Valve’s fault when a developer of a game chooses not to support an XBox controller, and it’s not Valve’s fault when a developer of a game chooses not to support a particular headset. If the Oculus Rift didn’t work on Steam at all, you’d have a point, but that’s not what’s happening here.

        • StB

          I’m not missing anything. I get what you’re saying. Allow me to paraphrase: “Big, Mean Valve is making things difficult for Oculus Rift. The only way Rift can survive is to pay for exclusives and maintain an environment that’s closed to Vive users. It’s not fair if Valve does the same thing, though, because I have a Rift and I want to play those games!”.

          I’m pointing out the utter hypocrisy of what you are saying. Your argument doesn’t even make sense when you take into account what all these other people are pointing out: If Fallout 4 VR is set to lock out Rift users, it will be because Zenimax decided to do that. Zenimax’s decisions have nothing to do with Valve. Even if Zenimax and Valve DID partner against Oculus, it wouldn’t be any different than what Oculus has done from day one, but that’s irrelevant, since it’s not what’s happening here.

          Who cares what people have said in the past? Just look at facts: Valve supports Rift through OpenVR. Rift does not support Vive. You trying to make Valve/HTC out to be the bad guys isn’t going to change the fact that what’s good for one company is good for another.

        • NooYawker

          They’re not above it.

        • Raphael

          It’s nothing to do with HTC you twat. Your first clue is that people here are telling you you’re wrong.

          Now you’re crapping on and justifying oculus bribing developers because one fucking game is listed as Vive? You’re blaming HTC when the issue is between bethesda and octopus. Are you totally ignorant about what goes on? Are you aware that Carmack (he’s a coder who works for OctopusVR) is now suing Bethesda?

    • Sam Illingworth

      I think this is a special case, caused by the legal disputes. I also suspect there’ll be a hack within days of launch to enable Rift support.

      I don’t think this is why Oculus wanted their own shop, I think they did that to maximise how much money goes to them (rather than to Valve) from each sale.

    • NooYawker

      I thought all steam games were playable on the rift. The controls might be a little mixed up but I don’t think you’ll have a problem playing it. Unless zenimax goes the shithead move and purposely blocks oculus out of spite.

    • Caven

      That’s a Zenimax/Bethesda issue, not a Valve/HTC issue. Have you forgotten about Zenimax’s lawsuit against Oculus/Facebook? What makes you think that Zenimax has any interest in supporting a platform they’re trying to sue out of existence? Trying to spin it as Valve/HTC’s fault when it’s clearly a case of bad blood between Oculus/Facebook and Valve/HTC is quite disingenuous.

    • Joan Villora Jofré

      It’s not HTC, you have to blame Zenimax.

    • Raphael

      What in god’s cock are you talking about “valve game”? Since when was fallout 4 created by valve?

  • Cornfry

    So, I could get a crap about Zenimax’s little spat with Oculus. The need to add support for the Rift, pronto. Only shooting themselves in the foot sales-wise.

    • Buddydudeguy

      Exactly. They are ignoring ( at least) half a million players. Literally giving them the bird.

      • J.C.

        Oh man, because not supporting the Vive on the Oculus store totally isn’t giving Vive users the bird.

        I don’t see you complaining that the Oculus store doesn’t support the Vive, but now that a game you want is going to be restricted the same way, you’re upset. You’re a-ok with Oculus having exclusives, but not the Vive. I’d LOVE to play Robo Recall, or Chronos, or Lucky’s Tale. But since there’s no direct support, I’m not going to give Oculus money for something that depends on the goodwill of an unpaid third party developer.

        I have no doubt that there will be a ReVive-like hack to get these Bethesda games working on the Rift, will you happily pay full price to have halfass functionality (since button mappings wont visually change, same as ReVive)? If not, then you’re finally able to understand why Vive owners are so annoyed with oculus. It’s only going to get worse, as LG has a headset coming, and there will undoubtedly be more. How many headsets can Oculus ignore before their store is abandoned?

        • Konchu

          I am pretty confident that steam VR will support the rift for this game but more importantly future headsets to come. Standards are still being defined but I think Steam values game sales over hardware loyalty.

    • The Pet Cow

      How does it feel to be on the other side of the fence for once?

      It’s almost like Vive users that haven’t been able to use Rift titles this whole time (without using a unsupported mod).

      While it totally blows, and I don’t think they should do this, maybe Facebook / Rift can pull their heads out of their asses and support both platforms like the Vive does.

      OpenVR is only good for everyone.

      • Get Schwifty!

        Not even close to grasping the situation….

  • Olivér Láng

    So I don’t get it. I thought it finally comes to HTC Vive only, no PSVR. Did I miss something?

    • You didn’t – I made it all up. HTC VIve only and article corrected. Thanks.

  • Sam Illingworth

    This probably answers my question about saves and DLC then. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if they announce a discount for existing none-VR owners.

  • Tyler Soward

    can’t wait

  • Dennis Patty

    No Oculus Rift support…. Here I was getting excited…

    • Firestorm185

      Hey Dennis, don’t know if you’ve read the onslaught of other comments, but unless Bethesda specifically locks users with Rift’s from playing the game, if the game is just left to OpenVR and SteamVR then the Rift will still be able to play it. So hopes up Bethesda doesn’t do what Google Earth did at first, and we should be fine!

      • Dennis Patty

        I did read them. Whatever happened to XBOX and Oculus Teaming up? I was hoping to hear more about it this E3….

        • NooYawker

          Xbox isn’t paying VR much mind. They stated they haven’t gotten a lot of questions or inquiries about it. Who knows.

        • Firestorm185

          I don’t know, but I was wondering the same thing. Of course, with xbox wanting a “wireless” headset for xbox and windows already having their own headsets coming out soon, it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if microsoft scrapped Xbox + Rift’s idea entirely and decided to produce their own headset for the system. Afterall, PSVR doesn’t use Vive.

  • Fear Monkey

    I really really want this to come to PSVR, Even if its graphically dumbed down, make it happen Bethesda. There are more PSVR owners than Vive owners and Oculus owners combined.

    • NooYawker

      You’re getting skyrim first so there’s that.

      • Fear Monkey

        I didnt expect that so I am happy, but still hope Fallout 4 VR makes it to PSVR as well. Im very excited about Skyrim VR, though I have played the game to death since 2011, it will be fun to expierence it in VR.

  • TheBileStoad

    Full locomotion – anyone having health issues/play ability with it? I thought that was why teleport was happening…

    I can see Fallout being really intense over hours

    • Andrew McEvoy

      Played Fallout4 using vorpx for over 200 hours with full locomotion. One of the best vr experiences Ive had to date. No health issues or play ability problems at all.

  • Duane Locsin

    Getting this and Doom Vr but far out.
    I haven’t even completed F4 and Doom yet.
    LOL

  • I suppose full locomotion fans were dancing to the tune in the trailer :)

  • AndyP

    Bethesda may have an issue with Oculus, but more importantly, do they want to take this up with innocent Rift owning gamers that have bought their titles for years, and won’t in response to them blocking our access? I hope they see that would be bitting their nose off to spite their face. What’s more important to them: gamers & their money, or settling old scores? Only time will tell.

    • polysix

      there’s nothing ‘innocent’ about supporting facebook’s quest to monopolise and dictate the way VR goes. Esp when their vision is all to do with social, DRM and ad-targeting/data harvesting and zero to do with PC gaming. You don’t really think Zuck gave a &&&& about VR for escapism and entertainment do you?

      • AndyP

        Silly me for thinking I was just playing games to escape, when I was actually supporting some evil empire without realising. Thanks for pointing this out. While I’m there, I live in a dodgy country, with the wrong government, with huge inequities, eat the wrong food, drink the wrong soft drinks, use the wrong pharmaceuticals, consume the wrong type of energy, and us the wrong type of transport for starters; it’s hard to know where to start stopping supporting the multiplicity of neoliberal bastards – but you think picking one IT company over another will make the difference? Okay, I’ll burn my Rift (ignoring the environmental consequences/Ghia), and buy a Vive, or was it a PS4? Or perhaps it’s time to take up golf, at least I’d get some exercise in that virtually senseless zero-sum game.

    • Jarten

      I personally agree with you. When I got the Oculus Rift I wasn’t going
      by which company I wanted to support. I was looking at the hardware, and
      the controls for what I felt would be more comfortable for me to use.
      In all the stuff that has gone on with the Rift/Vive and even with Zenimax, for me it’s been more of feeling caught in the middle of something that I think is pretty ridiculous. Not because of the legal things, Zenimax has reasons to be upset because of that. The main reason though being is that to me in my mind, it’s comparable to a monitor and 3rd party controller and not a game console, but that’s what they are treating it as. I got it so I could play VR games on my Computer, not so they could create some hardware/game war for me to get caught between in.

      I too have been buying and playing Bethesda’s games for years and it would be like a slap to the face to me if they don’t cover all the main VR headset/control options just because of their company interpersonal disputes.

  • Lucidfeuer

    Are people aware that you can use the Oculus Touch like Vive Pans?

  • G Vandom

    Will it have the released DLC packages included or do we have to separate for them?

  • Great announcement!

    Agree in wondering how many people will be able to resist with full locomotion for hours…

  • Joe Black

    I’ve had a VR ready PC for ages. I’ve been following VR since Lucky’s first public announcements on the matter. If a decent PC VR HMD is marketed in my country I would buy it and I would buy Fallout 4 VR the day it arrives. Plus a ton of other games I cannot wait to play.

    Open up to the global market dammit! I want my limited warranty! It’s been years since the first PC VR HMDs launched. Friggen years…

  • Sebastien Mathieu

    can’t believe they will make us re-buy the whole game…. come on Bethesda i won’t buy the same game full price 2 times?

  • Jason Mercieca

    Cant wait to get this game, and with full locomotion, no immersion breaking teleport NICE! :)