After shocking gamers by announcing that Fallout 4 would be releasing this year, Bethesda further surprised fans at this summer’s E3 event by confirming that the series’ fourth installment would also feature mod support across all platforms. For the first time ever, Bethesda plans to deliver player-built mods to consoles.

As previously noted by the Inquisitr, the developer strives to simultaneously release community mods for download on the Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC by hosting the content themselves on the new BethesdaNet servers. It will still only be possible to create mods for Fallout 4 on PC, but once the content is shared on BethesdaNet it will also be available to play on console systems.

Fallout 4 is the first Bethesda game to allow mods on console platforms [Image via Fallout 4]

Further discussing their plans to finally bring user-mods to the Xbox One and PS4 with Fallout 4, Bethesda’s vice president of public relations Pete Hines told Major Nelson that the developer has wanted to bring mods to console fans for more than a decade.

“It’s a big deal. It’s something that Todd [Howard] has talked about for years, since back on Morrowind in 2002. It’s something we’ve always supported.”

Later in the Fallout 4 launch interview, Hines stated that they are trying to make a very simple process in which Xbox One and PS4 owners actually download Fallout 4. As he described it, the act of picking out a mod should work similarly to how gamers currently pick up DLC for a game.

Users will be able to search for Fallout 4 mods and then download them with simple click. Gamers won’t have to worry about installing the mod in the proper folders either, since the service will automate the entire process.

“We do it in a way that’s easy. I get asked this a lot on social media and Twitter. This is not about, ‘You have to have a PC and you have to do it yourself.’ The idea is you go to play the game and there’s a menu option and you click on it and there’s just a bunch of stuff for you to download. You click on the stuff you want and you start playing the game with these new mods. We want it to be a really streamlined, fun experience.”

Bethesda is still figuring out the exact specifics of how fans will get mods for Fallout 4 from BethesdaNet. They are working to create a user-friendly experience before releasing the mod creation tools for the game early next year.

Now that Fallout 4 has finally launched, Bethesda’s Pete Hines also talked briefly about why he feels that the Fallout franchise has grown into such a popular gaming franchise. While he admits that a post-apocalyptic setting has become more commonplace in gaming and films, the retro nature of the Fallout universe really helps the series stand out. On top of that, Bethesda then gives players a open-world sandbox to experience the world of Fallout however they want.

“At the core, what’s fun about Fallout is the basics. This world that was, that gets blown up, and you emerge into this post-apocalyptic world that has its own unique vibe. Post-apocalyptic is now a big thing in entertainment and there’s lots of different takes on it. Fallout has a very unique one.”

While Fallout 4 is now available across all current-gen platforms, Bethesda doesn’t plan to release the modding tools for the game until some point in 2016. The developer is still trying to work out the details for how mods will be delivered.

Vertibirds return in Fallout 4 [Image via Bethesda.net]

Are you excited that Fallout 4 mods will be released on consoles or are you worried that it might limit what can be done on PC in some way?

[Image via Fallout 4]