Bethesda Says It's Sony's Fault 'Fallout 4' and 'Skyrim' Mods Won't Come to PlayStation 4

Sadly, Sony and games publisher Bethesda have unexpectedly come to loggerheads over a long anticipated PlayStation 4 feature. Mods, arguably the lifeblood of Bethesda’s open-world games long after their release, will not be coming to the PlayStation 4 versions of Fallout 4 and the forthcoming Skyrim: Special Edition.

Why? It’s anyone’s guess, but Bethesda’s chosen air what sure sound like grievances with Sony publicly. In a note on its official company site, Bethesda says it’s been in discussion with Sony for “months,” that Bethesda itself has “long been ready to offer mod support” for the PlayStation 4, but that Sony “has informed us they will not approve user mods the way they should work.”

The rub, according to Bethesda, involves PlayStation 4 users having the flexibility to “do anything they want for either Fallout 4 or Skyrim Special Edition.” Here’s the rest:

Like you, we are disappointed by Sony’s decision given the considerable time and effort we have put into this project, and the amount of time our fans have waited for mod support to arrive. We consider this an important initiative and we hope to find other ways user mods can be available for our PlayStation audience. However, until Sony will allow us to offer proper mod support for PS4, that content for Fallout 4 and Skyrim on PlayStation 4 will not be available.

Bethesda says it’ll update everyone “if and when this situation changes.”

Bethesda is surely aware of what tends to happen to the accused when you air grievances like this publicly, but it’s also reasonable to see this as the company not wanting to play scapegoat absent clarification, and given the delays. (By contrast, Fallout 4 mods have been available to Xbox One players since May.)

Write to Matt Peckham at matt.peckham@time.com.