How Fallout 4’s next update changes the game — and how to get it now

Time to consult Tim Gunn because Fallout 4 is giving you more decorating options. Wait, Tim Gunn is the fashion guy, not the interior-design guy. Oh, wait! I was thinking of Tim Allen’s character from Home Improvement. I always mix those guys up.

Bethesda is preparing an update for the publisher’s open-world role-playing game, and you can test it now on Valve’s digital-distribution PC-gaming portal Steam if you’re willing to play something that isn’t finished. In addition to the standard fixes and tweaks, fans can expect to find a pile of new items in the settlement workshop where players design their own towns (insert Tim Allen grunt noise here). Keeping players engaged with this kind of new, free content is a way to ensure that a dedicated audience is ready to fork over some cash when the DLC finally goes on sale. And with 50,000 people simultaneously playing Fallout 4 on PC alone each day, according to Steam, that engagement strategy is working and should extend Bethesda’s average revenue per player.