Fallout 4's most iconic song was removed from the Anniversary Edition and you might be surprised about why

Today, fans on Reddit have discovered that one of the most iconic songs from Fallout 4 has been removed from the recently released Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition. Fans speculated whether the song had been removed, but couldn’t be sure they weren’t just missing it, asking for confirmation that none of the comments could easily provide. Unfortunately, for fans of the iconic song, The Wanderer by Dion DiMucci, which was featured in live-action Fallout 4 commercials, it has indeed been removed from the Anniversary Edition.

Perhaps the most iconic song from Fallout 4 has been removed in the Anniversary Edition

It would have been easy to miss, but back in 2017, two years after the release of Fallout 4, Dion DiMucci, the singer of The Wanderer, sued ZeniMax, the company that owns Bethesda, over the use of the song. It wasn’t that Bethesda used the song without permission, but DiMucci argued that ZeniMax neglected the terms of his contract. Thanks to PC Gamer for writing about this in 2017, DiMucci’s issue apparently stemmed from the commercials being “repugnant and morally indefensible,” and portraying homicide in an “appealing” way. If it’s been a while since you’ve seen these commercials or heard this song, here’s a reminder.

The lawsuit was eventually dropped, but it makes sense that the team at Bethesda may not want to reopen any old wounds by seeking out the license for the song again. But on some level, they must have considered whether it was worth it. The song is just that iconic.

The Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition celebrates Fallout 4’s tenth year since its launch. It includes all DLC, expansions, and extra content, and is described as the “definitive way to experience” the game now. But how accurate is that? Even without this song, fans only took a few days to notice it was missing. That’s not even mentioning the Mixed recent reviews that Fallout 4 has received on Steam thanks to this new edition. Over the last 30 days, only 44% of reviews for Fallout 4 have been positive, with users calling out Bethesda for pushing out “low effort” updates, calling it a “cash grab,” and saying “there was no need for this.”

Unfortunately, this feels like a losing outcome for everyone involved. Fans miss out on a quality, definitive version of Fallout 4, Bethesda has upset fans once again, and even Dion DiMucci suing ZeniMax can’t separate fans' association of his song with the game. But, of course, as one Reddit user points out, “Don’t worry. Someone is 100% going to re-add it as a mod.” Thus, the cycle of fans fixing Bethesda games with mods continues, and all is balanced in the world.

Fallout 4

November 10, 2015

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