A few months ago, when Bethesda suddenly announced that the next-generation update of “Fallout 4” that many players have been looking forward to will arrive on April 25, many people immediately thought of a question – what does this mean for “Fallout: London”.
The final answer is that the mod’s project lead Dean ‘Prilladog’ Carter admits that “in terms of release, it’s been a nightmare”. Another lengthy delay, this time with no confirmed release date, as the team struggled to try and quickly update the mod to make it compatible with the next generation of Fallout 4, then had to change direction and offer potential players a way to downgrade their copy of Fallout 4 – a change that inevitably had an impact on the release.
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However, there is at least one silver lining in all these headaches – the emergence of PC store GOG.com, willing to become the host of this massive mod, which, due to its sheer size, cannot be released in the usual way of traditional mods.
“The ‘Next-Gen’ update made things a bit more complicated,” said GOG Technical Producer Adam ‘Adim’ Zióůkowski about the work that went into bringing the mod to the world over the past few months. “The FOLON team spent some time trying to make the mod compatible with it, but after a while it became clear that adapting the mod to a ‘Next-Gen’ version wasn’t going to be possible in the short term. As a result, we decided to finalize the mod as an ‘Old Gen’ version. Since then, we’ve focused on making sure the installation process is as simple as possible, whether you’re playing Fallout 4 on GOG or Steam.”
“This isn’t the experience we expected when we started,” he admits, “ but it’s the best we can do under the circumstances – and we’re crossing our fingers that Fallout fans will enjoy it regardless.”
The good news is that Ziółkowski was able to confirm that the mod will be updated to a next-gen version at some point in the future (as Team FOLON hinted at recently), and both parties are definitely on the same page regarding post-launch support for the mod. “We have discussed with Team FOLON about reverting to a next-gen version if possible, as we would also have to update the launcher/installer to accommodate this and provide users with new guides to get everything working properly,” he said, “So, we will definitely be working together to get back to that!”
When the decision was made to jump in late in the mod’s development and help its creators with the above issues, I asked GOG Senior Business Development Manager Marcin Paczyőski whether the nature of the mod, which can’t be charged for like a regular game (at least without major controversy), had any impact on the matter.
“Cost is inevitably always a factor, and it certainly wasn’t small in this case,” he told me, “but we’re willing to take the risk in the hope that our community, the voices of those who value us so much, will like what we do. The best way to support us, though, is to buy Fallout 4 (or any other game) on GOG — thanks to that, we’ll be able to do more of this in the future!”
Another factor I brought up was whether the idea of putting it on a storefront alongside paid games was necessary for GOG to consider the backlash Bethesda has faced in the past when trying to integrate mods into its own storefront as part of its paid creation program. Obviously there’s a key difference between the two, as Fallout: London won’t be paid, but there’s still the theme of mods being removed from the online space where such things usually reside – there’s often a notion of identity for modders and players alike that comes from the freedom of surviving in the wild west that doesn’t tie into the strictly for-profit aspects of the gaming industry and the inherent pressures it places on the creative process.
Paczyőski said that, from GOG’s perspective, Fallout: London has always been free-to-play, which means that the long-standing debate about the philosophy of modding “seems irrelevant to what we do.” “Honestly, it’s not cheap to host it because it’s over 40 GB download,” he added, “but if our community likes it, it’s worth it!”
As it has been forthcoming, the idea of hosting a Fallout: London event would help the CD Projekt-owned storefront build a positive image in the eyes of those looking to play mods and mod makers, which was certainly a key factor in the decision to support it, but it wasn’t the only reason – GOG is using this opportunity to explore the possibility of mods being a big part of its future. This is a test of people’s appetite for a large mod packaged in this way.
“This is a trial run,” Pazierski said, in response to whether GOG would be willing to support more large-scale mod projects like this after the release of Fallout: London, whether it’s Fallout, CD Projekt’s own The Witcher and Cyberpunk series, or other games. “If our community likes it, we will seriously consider doing more of this in the future.”
“Personally, I very much hope so,” he continued. “I know there are a lot of great mods out there that we can help reach a mainstream audience by creating a one-click experience that doesn’t require a complicated installation process. Additionally, I feel like the modding community plays a huge role in game preservation, which in turn is something we will always strive to support.”
As for what mods GOG might want to support, Paczyőski added: “To be honest, this is all very new for us, so we haven’t set any guidelines yet, other than ‘common sense’. If our community likes what we do with Fallout: London at launch, we’ll look at the next steps.”
So if you’re a gamer who enjoys being able to play a ton of mods for your favorite games without too much installation hassle, or a modder who has ambitious ideas but has been hesitant to commit, this could be good news for you. However, we first have to answer the big question – what does the release of Fallout: London and the reaction from players to it mean for GOG’s future plans?
