Fallout 4 Game Version 1.10.163 «Chrome»
By 1.10.163, Bethesda had ironed out most of the game's original launch-day game-breaking bugs.
However, some legendary mods will never be updated. Fallout 4 New Vegas and Fallout: London (which launched as a standalone downgrader) explicitly require the pre-Next-Gen executable. If you want to play these total conversions, you downgrade from version 1.10.163.
What does the future hold for version 1.10.163 ? The signs point to it remaining relevant for years to come.
If you only use Creation Club content or a handful of texture mods, you can safely stay on 1.10.163.
Steam users are not left out, but they have a harder path. Anyone who has kept their game updated since April 2024 is running the Next-Gen version (either 1.10.980 , 1.10.984 , or later). However, the modding community has created elegant solutions. Fallout 4 Game Version 1.10.163
Version 1.10.163 is arguably the most infamous, yet most common, version of Fallout 4 you will encounter if playing on Steam (unless you’ve rolled back). This patch arrived during Bethesda’s major push for the —their paid microtransaction mod store. It is the last major update before the "Next-Gen" update of 2024, making it the definitive "Classic Modern" version of the game.
To understand the importance of version 1.10.163, one must contextualize it within the timeline of Fallout 4 ’s longevity. Released years after the game’s initial launch, this patch was part of a broader initiative to prepare the game for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. For nearly a decade, Fallout 4 ran on legacy hardware, struggling with frame rate caps and resolution limits. The updates preceding 1.10.163 introduced quality-of-life features such as 60 frames-per-second performance modes and 4K resolution support. However, these ambitious technical leaps often introduced new instability. Version 1.10.163 arrived as the custodian of this modernization, focusing heavily on bug fixes to stabilize the new performance modes. It addressed specific crashes that occurred when entering certain areas, such as the Editor Cell, and rectified issues with the game’s audio, ensuring that the immersive soundscape of the Commonwealth remained intact despite the engine upgrades.
When Bethesda released Fallout 4 back in 2015, few could have predicted that a small, seemingly routine patch years later would become one of the most important versions in the game's history. Version 1.10.163, released in December 2019, wasn't flashy. It wasn't a major content drop or a graphical overhaul. It was, on the surface, a modest update: a handful of bug fixes and one new Creation Club item. Yet today, that very same version is celebrated, sought after, and fiercely protected by a substantial portion of the Fallout 4 community. It has earned a reputation as the "last true home for modders" — a stable, powerful, and predictable foundation for one of the most vibrant modding scenes in gaming.
In April 2024, to coincide with the release of the acclaimed Fallout Amazon Prime television series, Bethesda released a massive "Next-Gen" update (bringing the PC version up to 1.10.980 and later sub-versions). If you want to play these total conversions,
Version 1.10.163, released in late 2019, served as the stable baseline for the Fallout 4 modding community for nearly five years. Until the "Next-Gen" update in April 2024, this version was the standard for performance, stability, and compatibility with the and thousands of advanced mods. 1. Key Technical Specifications Release Date: December 2019.
build 0.6.23. It supports critical mods that remain broken or unmaintained on newer versions.
Perhaps the most illustrative example of version lock is . This popular mod entirely rewrites the game's dialogue wheel to show full sentences. The community has confirmed definitively that while XDI runs flawlessly on version 1.10.163 , it does not work on the Next-Gen updates ( 1.10.980 or 1.10.984 ).
The key takeaway: (available on Nexus Mods). This automated patcher will revert your 1.10.163 executable to the pre-Next-Gen version (which is actually version 1.10.163 — wait, same digits again). If you only use Creation Club content or
While stable, 1.10.163 lacks several modern features found in newer versions:
A particularly illuminating case study comes from a player who attempted to update from 1.10.163 to the Next-Gen version after years of resistance. Their experience encapsulates the community's fears: "All the mods I used in my settlement builds broke with Next gen update. I have many settlement builds done and almost ready to upload. All done with 1.10.163". After a year away from the game, they returned to find that while some mods had been updated, many essential ones — including LooksMenu — still weren't compatible with Next-Gen. Their conclusion echoes that of countless others: "Which is why I am locked down on game version .163".
Fallout 4 Game Version 1.10.163 had a significant impact on the gaming community, as it brought back one of the most beloved franchises in the world of gaming. The game's release was met with widespread critical acclaim, with many reviewers praising its engaging gameplay mechanics, rich narrative, and immersive game world.