Bethesda’s Fallout 3 launched in 2008 and, in most ways, moved the series into the future of 3D post-apocalyptic adventuring for the better. But one of the game’s “forward” steps was anything but, at least on PC—it adopted the then-new Games For Windows Live (GFWL) service.
This week, that situation changes with the game’s first official patch on PC in 12 years. The patch is designed to do only one thing: remove all GFWL dependencies.
The 5.4MB patch for the game’s Steam version went live on Tuesday and was accompanied by a brief patch note that merely states, “If Fallout 3 was previously installed on Steam, we suggest uninstalling and reinstalling the title.” Anecdotal reports suggest that any Fallout 3 fans who still have the PC version installed via Steam will need to do just that, as the patching process may stop the game from booting.