Enlarge / Want to explore Fallout 76 on PC this fall? You’ll need to install the Bethesda.net launcher to do so. (credit: Bethesda)

Bethesda has become the latest video game publisher to begin pulling a major game series from rivals’ download services. The publisher’s latest announcement about the online RPG Fallout 76 included hints to a first for a 3D Fallout game: it won’t be sold via Steam.

Our suspicions were raised by the game’s beta FAQ, which went live on Monday and included many mentions of the Bethesda.net store and launcher for the game’s Windows version… but no mention of Steam. Once we clicked through all of the FAQ’s questions (all hidden with spoiler tags), we found a definitive answer near the bottom: “Both the beta and the game will be available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and on PC (via Bethesda.net only).” [Update: Shortly after this article went live, Bethesda forwarded Ars Technica an even more direct statement confirming the news: “The PC version of Fallout 76, for both the beta and the launch, will be available only via Bethesda.net, not on Steam.”]

The Bethesda.net launcher debuted on Windows PCs in 2016, and since its debut, it has featured two exclusive free-to-play games during their PC launch windows: Quake Champions and Fallout Shelter. Both of those games’ PC versions eventually found their way to Steam. Bethesda’s latest statement, on the other hand, does not include any indication that the retail-priced Fallout 76 will ever find its way to Valve Software’s popular storefront and game-launch service, which charges third-party publishers a 30-percent fee for any transactions.