PlayStation gamers have had to wait several blue moons before they could get their hands on mods for Fallout 4. The wait is practically over now as the PlayStation 4 will be receiving mod support very, very soon.
Polygon is reporting that Fallout 4's mod support for the PS4 is currently going through certification. This means that once Sony gives Bethesda Games the all clear then the patch will launch, you'll be able to update your PS4 version of Fallout 4 and then you can begin to access mods using the Creation Kit.
There is a caveat to mods being made available on the PS4, though. You see... you can't use any external assets. What this means is that everything you make for the game through the Creation Kit can only be made using the internal assets of Fallout 4 on the PS4.
Bethesda fought Sony long and hard over this, but in the end Sony won out since it's their platform. But what does this mean for modders and more importantly what does it mean for gamers? Well, basically it means that you cannot make nor can you download any new mods that use new meshes, textures, sounds, shaders, models or animations. You can only use the things already contained within Fallout 4 to make mods for Fallout 4 on the PS4.
It's a huge blow to the console modding community because that limitation means no lightsabers, no weapons from other games or movies. No new clothing items from games or movies, unless it can be made with the assets already available in the game. And it also means no new vehicles, no new character models with original assets or custom voice acting either. A lot of people have been making things like custom companions for Fallout 4, enabling gamers to play through the campaign with all new characters. That's not really going to be a very effective possibility for PS4 gamers.
Previously, though, Bethesda had to battle with Sony just to get modding approved. Originally there was a huge memory limitation on the mods, so much so that it would have made it a far less versatile feature than the Xbox One. And then it sounded as if Bethesda was throwing in the towel because they couldn't get anywhere with Sony.
But after lots of negotiating and plenty of hill climbing, both Bethesda and Sony managed to come to an agreement: Fallout 4 mods could be allowed on the PS4 but no external assets would be accepted.
This compromise puts a severe damper on the modding scene for Sony's system compared to Microsoft's Xbox One. Plain and simple, you're getting the better deal with the Xbox One and Fallout 4 just because you at least get to install 2GB worth of mods that do include external assets, so you can drastically alter your game, add in new weapons, new companions, new buildings, new missions, new sounds, new graphics... new everything.
Some rumors spread that external assets would open up a potential security risk for the PS4, and Sony wasn't willing to put their system in the cross-hairs of exploits.
The latest patch for Fallout 4 has rolled out for PC and has been certified for both PS4 and Xbox One. PS4 owners will get the mod tools while Xbox One owners will get a number of bug fixes.
