Answering the questions regarding the contents of the PC disc, Bethesda VP Pete Hines wrote, “you will still have to download from Steam. The disc doesn’t contain the entire game.”
“(Fallout 4 on PC) comes with a disc and a Steam authentication key. If you don’t have a DVD drive, you can just use the (Steam) key,” he added.
In an effort to explain why such a split was made in comparison to console versions, he noted the console versions “ship on Blu-rays, PC ships on DVDs.”
When a follower suggested that this will encourage piracy, Pete wrote:
The game is set to release on November 10, across PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The company recently revealed a Xbox One controller with a unique Fallout 4 skin.
Whether it will encourage piracy or not, the PC discs may very well frustrate a percentage of the Fallout fans.