Fallout 4 Mods That Remove Next-Gen Update Are Surging In Popularity

Bethesda dropped Fallout 4's next-gen update earlier in April, and it's fair to say that it's garnered a mixed reception from players--mostly thanks to technical issues and mod compatibility problems. Now, PC mods that remove the next-gen update are surging in popularity on Nexus Mods.

These mods, which include the "Fallout 4 Downgrader" and "Steam - Skip Next-Gen Update," have roughly 60,000 downloads as of this writing, and they've each been out for less than a week. As their names imply, the former allows you to roll back the next-gen update with relative ease, and the latter (apparently) tricks Steam into no longer prompting you for the next-gen update at all.

It's worth noting that we have not used either of these mods for ourselves, so your mileage may vary--the Downgrader requires your Steam credentials to work, which is potentially hazardous to say the least. Generally speaking, most popular mods for games are updated to work with every major patch, but it's definitely not guaranteed.

Fallout 4's next-gen update did add some graphical improvements to the game, but it was marred by technical issues from the start. This was especially the case for PS5 players, where a bug prevented players who obtained the game on the PS Plus Extra and Premium Games Catalog from downloading the free update. The next-gen "quality mode" was also found to not function correctly at launch by Digital Foundry and others. Interest in Fallout 4 and other games in the series has spiked recently thanks to the success of Amazon Prime Video's Fallout TV show.

For more on Fallout 4's modding scene, check out our list of the 50 best Fallout mods in 2024.