Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
When Bethesda announced that mod support was coming to Fallout 4 on consoles as well as PC it seemed as though a new world was going to open up to those of us who prefer not to dabble with PC gaming. It wasn’t just a token gesture either, with new assets being addable to the console versions to allow for some proper mods that completely change the look of the game or add new objects. But then PS4 support never came. The Xbox One enjoyed over 4000 mods (at the time of writing). Lots aren’t great, but plenty are. Sony and Bethesda weren’t seeing eye to eye on mods and it was hurting the game buying public.
In September mod support for Fallout 4 on PS4 was canned, and Skyrim: Special Edition’s support fell alongside it. “Sony has informed us they will not approve user mods the way they should work: where users can do anything they want for either Fallout 4 or Skyrim Special Edition,” Bethesda announced in a barbed statement. The publisher didn’t seem happy and neither were fans of the games. PS4 gamers yelled out in unison having been dealt a particularly painful arrow to the knee. With the PS4 lording it over the Xbox One, Sony’s system suddenly not being able to offer what Microsoft’s does felt wrong and rather bizarre.
A month later a solution was announced for Skyrim and Fallout 4 on PS4 (Fallout 4 will get support later in the year), but in truth it’s about as barebones as the modding system could be. Whereas Xbox One owners would be able to enjoy Skyrim mods totalling up to 5GB in size installed at once and make use of brand new assets not in the original game, PS4 players would be hamstrung by no external assets at all and a 1GB install limit. The latter isn’t such a big issue, given that no new textures or models can be added. In short, modding on PS4 Skyrim isn’t good.
A quick look at Bethesda’s mod pages for Skyrim Special Edition for Xbox One and PS4 already paint a picture of what the scene is going to be like. A few days from release the PS4 has 9 mods listed, whereas the Xbox One has 64. I expect the gap is going to widen fairly rapidly. I bought Fallout 4 on PS4 because I expected slightly better presentation. I had no reason to expect that version would end up being the one stuck in the past. I fully expect that now with Skyrim on PS4.
Funny Followers, a mod that gives you Thomas the Tank Engine as a companion, might be made for a laugh, but it’s a laugh that only Xbox One (and PC, obviously) players will be able to experience. Alone it’s just one mod that PS4 owners are missing out on, but when that number extends into the thousands the issue becomes clear. Yes, Skyrim and Fallout 4 are getting some nice PS4 Pro enhancements, but both having glaring holes that seemingly won’t be filled.
At a time when Sony is two weeks out from the launch of its new, more powerful PS4 Pro console, it is sad that it’s fallen way behind here. Modding isn’t new, but on consoles it’s a relatively exciting and community focused feature. Sony no doubt has its reasons why it’s not allowing full mod support, but despite being significantly beaten in the Teraflops arms race, the Xbox One feels like it’s more forward thinking.
