Fallout 3 downloadable content

There are five packs of downloadable content (DLC) for the Bethesda action role-playing video game Fallout 3. Each package of downloadable content adds new missions, new locales to visit, new non-player characters to encounter, and new items to use. Of the five, Broken Steel has the largest effect on the game, altering the ending, increasing the level cap to 30, and allowing the player to continue playing past the end of the main quest line. The 2009 Game of The Year edition of Fallout 3 includes the full game and all five pieces of downloadable content.

The downloadable content was originally only available for Xbox Live and Games for Windows. Although Bethesda had not offered an explanation as to why the content was not released for PlayStation 3, Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian speculated that it may have been the result of an exclusivity deal with Bethesda by Sony's competitor, Microsoft. When asked if the PlayStation 3 version would receive an update that would enable gameplay beyond the main quest's completion, game director Todd Howard responded, "Not at this time, no". However, in May 2009, Bethesda announced that the existing DLC packs (Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt and Broken Steel) would be made available for the PlayStation 3; the latter two (Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta) were initially planned to release for all platforms simultaneously, but ended up releasing on Xbox and GFWL several months in advance before PS3.