If you played Fallout 4 with zero mods, you likely never noticed this update beyond a brief download. But for the 90% of PC players who modded the game, patch day was a disaster.
This patch is critical because it broke Fallout 4 Script Extender (F4SE) and any mods depending on it. Many mod authors had to update their mods to work with this version.
If you see a mod saying "Works with 1.10.163", it means it's compatible with the post‑late‑2019 game version.
On PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the patch was less catastrophic but more puzzling. Due to Sony’s strict modding policies, PS4 users saw almost no benefit—Creation Club worked, but the “0 KB bug” (a save corruption error) actually increased in frequency after 1.10.163.
On Xbox One, the patch caused:
Bethesda never released a follow-up patch specifically to fix these console issues. For console players, 1.10.163 was simply “the new normal.”
Not sure if you’re on 1.10.163? Here’s how to verify:
PC (Steam):
Xbox One:
PS4:
Note on newer patches: After 1.10.163, Bethesda released a minor 1.10.165 and then 1.10.167 to fix Creation Club store issues. However, 1.10.163 remains the milestone reference because it fundamentally changed mod compatibility.
Published by: The Commonwealth Chronicle
Reading Time: 7 minutes
In the annals of Fallout 4’s post-launch support, few version numbers have sparked as much discussion, frustration, and eventual grudging acceptance as patch 1.10.163. Released in late 2019 and early 2020 (depending on your platform), this update arrived nearly four years after the game’s initial launch. It was not a content drop like Far Harbor or Nuka-World; instead, it was a foundational shift—one that primarily targeted the game’s modding ecosystem and the then-upcoming launch of the Creation Club’s “Fractured Steel” mini-quest.
For PC players, console modders, and those still wandering the glowing sea, understanding 1.10.163 is essential. This article breaks down exactly what changed, why it broke your mod list, and how to live with—or without—this controversial patch.
Within hours of the patch’s release, the F4SE team announced that version 1.10.163 was incompatible. Updating F4SE took roughly two weeks. During that time, thousands of mod users had to choose:
Even after F4SE updated, many mod authors had to recompile their own scripts. Some popular mods from 2018–2019 were never updated for 1.10.163, effectively abandoning them.
Patch 1.10.163 (often stylized as v1.10.163.0) is a significant software update for Bethesda Softworks’ Fallout 4, released in late 2019 (specifically December for PC, and January 2020 for consoles). This patch is historically notable for two reasons: it was the last major update to the game before the announcement of the Fallout 4 next-gen update in 2022 (which later released as version 1.10.980 and beyond), and it marked the definitive end of support for 32-bit executable versions on PC.
For many in the modding community, Patch 1.10.163 is considered the "gold standard" or "final stable build" of the original Fallout 4 engine, as subsequent updates were primarily focused on Creation Club content integration or the high-definition remaster.
For the PC community and heavy mod users, Patch 1.10.163 launched as a disaster. The update forced an upgrade to the script extender and broke compatibility with the "F4SE" (Fallout 4 Script Extender), which is the backbone for thousands of essential mods.