As fans have likely come to expect from Bethesda’s open-world titles by now, Fallout 4 didn’t release earlier this month without its fair share of bugs and other issues. Thankfully, the developer has already committed themselves to providing users with an improved experience while playing Fallout 4 and today released the first beta patch for the game.

As the Inquisitr detailed last week, Bethesda plans on releasing Fallout 4 updates to PC players first so that they can fully test the patch features before bringing the fixes to the Xbox One and Playstation 4. This should give the team time to get proper feedback and data before making the update available to every Fallout 4 player.

Those who opt into the Beta patch need only to continue playing the game to help [Image via Fallout 4]

The initial update for Fallout 4 is more of a minor patch that doesn’t actually make any major changes to the game. However, the update does improve the game’s stability by improving memory performance. Additionally, the patch also addresses a few specific bugs that have been discovered in Fallout 4. Bethesda released a set of patch notes for the beta update that provided a full account of exactly what they have been working on.

General memory and stability improvements

Fixed issue where equipped weapons become locked after completing Reunions

Fixed issue with When Freedom Calls where the quest would not complete

During Confidence Man, fixed issue where player’s health would continuously regenerate

Fixed crash related to jumping into water and reloading saved games

Fixed issue where Launcher would not save God Rays Quality setting properly

For now, only PC users will be able to try out these changes, but console players should see the same set of fixes head to the Xbox One and PS4 once the patch has been properly tested. In addition to removing bugs, the beta update also added some new control features to the PC version of Fallout 4 which give players the option to remap actions to the number pad.

While detailing the changes introduced as part of the first official update for Fallout 4 on Steam, Bethesda reminded PC participants with the beta patch that the current update isn’t yet finished and warns all players to keep a backup of their save file before downloading the patch. The developer also created a new beta forum to help get feedback from those trying out Fallout 4‘s new Steam Beta update.

In order to be able to download the patch, PC users much first opt-in to the Fallout 4 beta on Steam. This can be done by right-clicking on the game in the library list and then selecting the Beta tab under the Settings menu. If this is done properly, gamers will then be able to access the beta update file which will force Fallout 4 to update with the beta patch. Following the same steps, fans can also exit the beta version of the game and go back to playing the live version of Fallout 4 instead.

There's still plenty of Deathclaw to fight while players await bug fixes [Image via Fallout 4]

Console gamers shouldn’t feel ignored by the fact that the Fallout 4 beta patch is only available through Steam. The testing should give Bethesda the time and data they need to release a more stable update across all platforms.

In addition to remaining committed to releasing Fallout 4 updates on PC and console systems alike, Bethesda also has plans to make player-made mods available on the Xbox One and PS4 for the first time. The Inquisitr reported earlier this month that the developer plans to deliver mods to consoles through a streamlined download process that automatically installs the content once selected.

Are you willing to wait for the first Fallout 4 patch if you don’t have access to the PC beta, especially if it means eventually getting a more stable update?

[Image via Bethesda]