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Microsoft's Giving $10 to Gamers Who Downloaded 'Fallout 4' for Free

Xbox One players briefly managed to download the popular RPG before Microsoft revoked the licenses, but at least they're getting something for their troubles.
Image: Bethesda Softworks

Fallout 4 is a game about surviving Boston in the wake of the nuclear apocalypse, and appropriately enough, Microsoft is showing itself adept at avoiding a different type of fallout after an associated error on Thursday.

Bethesda Softworks' open-world roleplaying game from last November usually costs $60 on the Xbox Live store, and purchasing all of its additional downloadable content will normally push you over $100. For a while on Thursday, though, Fallout 4 and its three expansions were completely free. Once word got out, players who've been on the fence about buying it naturally downloaded it by the horde.

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Image: Ryan Brown

It was, of course, an error. Bethesda's marketing chief Pete Hines said as much in a tweet. Microsoft quickly learned of it and ruined the fun by revoking all the licenses from people who'd bought it for free and restoring its proper wallet-burning price. And that, technically, could have been that. But in a rare display of goodwill, the company plans to credit everyone who downloaded the game while it was "free" with $10 for their trouble.

Specially, Microsoft's response to Xbox One users read:

Image: NeoGAF New Threads

Not too shabby, although Microsoft's gesture almost certainly targets the few unassuming randos who legitimately came across it while browsing the store and not the throngs sharing the link on Reddit and other sites. This way, everyone walks away happy.

But the timing may also be key to understanding Microsoft's generosity. This weekend marks the start of E3, the flagship convention of the video gaming world, where publishers, manufacturers, and developers announce many of the biggest upcoming releases. Bethesda itself has a big showcase tomorrow, and Microsoft's keynote address will follow on Monday. The smoothover thus helped the both companies avoid unnecessary hostility (and it doesn't hurt that they come out looking like nice folks).

Looking their best is essential right now. Even though Microsoft's Xbox One gaming console has been finding its stride in recent months, it seems sales are still considerably behind those of Sony's rival PlayStation 4. Last April, the CEO of an eSports company let slip in a press release that only 18 million Xbox One units have sold, which is considerably behind the 36 million PS4 units Sony reported selling a month before.

As for the accidental free games, it's not the first time Xbox One users have seen something like this. Back in 2014, Microsoft was internally testing a feature that let players play select games for free for 24 hours and accidentally pushed it live. Hilarity (and a bit of excitement) briefly ensued.