Independent profile — not affiliated with Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda Softworks LLC is the Rockville, Maryland publisher of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls games; its parent ZeniMax Media Inc. was acquired by Microsoft on March 9, 2021, according to Microsoft's annual report. This page covers Bethesda's support and billing routes, its arbitration terms, the BBB and Trustpilot figures as displayed on 2026-10-18, an Australian refund undertaking and a Fallout 4 class action.
Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints
USAComplaints currently maintains 2 historical complaints about Bethesda Softworks, published between 2006 and 2010. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.
Independent Sources
Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.
Contacts
- Bethesda.net (official site): https://bethesda.net/
- Bethesda Support (submit a ticket): https://help.bethesda.net/
- The Elder Scrolls Online support portal: https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/
- General info (published on ZeniMax contact page): [email protected]
- BBB-listed phone for ZeniMax Media, Inc.: (301) 948-2200
Locations
| Type | Address |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 1370 Piccard Drive Rockville MD 20850 |
Bethesda Softworks complaints: support, refunds and contract terms
This page is about Bethesda Softworks LLC, the Rockville, Maryland publisher of Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, DOOM and other game series. It is a different business from the Bethesda, Maryland hospitals, medical practices and estate-sale companies that appear in some archive posts. Bethesda's own pages, opened on October 18, 2026, give the following routes.
- Technical support. The ZeniMax contact page lists help.bethesda.net for "Bethesda Softworks Games" and help.elderscrollsonline.com for "questions specific to The Elder Scrolls Online". The support site's article "How do I submit a ticket on the Bethesda Support website?" gives four steps: "1. Select your product. 2. Select the categories that best match your issue. 3. Select additional categories and follow article instructions if applicable. 4. Fill out the ticket submission form." It adds that after submitting, "you can view the status of your ticket and view the responses at My Support."
- Billing and refunds. The support article "Whom should I contact about billing issues?" says: "It is not possible to obtain a refund for items purchased except in accordance with any warranty offered by ZeniMax or to the extent required by local law." It continues that some jurisdictions "(including Australia and New Zealand) impose certain terms and conditions on the supply of services and digital content (including in respect of refunds) that cannot be excluded" and that if you believe you are eligible, "contact Bethesda Customer Support." For a refund through a store, it lists the retailer's own channel: "The Elder Scrolls Online Store: Submit your request on our help portal. Xbox / Xbox Game Pass: Contact Microsoft Support. PlayStation: Contact Sony Support. Steam: Contact Steam Support. iOS: Contact Apple Support. Android: Contact Google Play Support. Nintendo Switch: Contact Nintendo Support. Epic Games: Contact Epic Games Support. Battle.net: Contact Battle.net Support" A game bought at a physical or digital store is therefore handled under that seller's own return rules; this page has not reviewed them. The same article says that "The Bethesda Gear Store has a separate, dedicated customer support team" and gives the same for "The Bethesda Store Europe", so merchandise orders go to those stores' own support.
- Terms of Service. The Terms (headed "ZeniMax Media Terms of Service", last updated November 12, 2024) open by warning that they contain a binding individual arbitration and class action waiver in Section 15. See the litigation section below for the clause details and the Australian refund undertaking.
- Outside routes. The BBB profile linked on this page has a complaints tab and a "Submit a Complaint" option. The FTC's ReportFraud.ftc.gov (opened 2026-10-18; its page invites reports to "help fight fraud") is a federal reporting route; this page did not open or submit any complaint form, and did not open the Maryland Attorney General's site (the company is located in Rockville, Maryland). Bethesda's own pages opened on 2026-10-18 list ticket support and email addresses, not a phone line; the one phone number in this profile is BBB-listed.
Australian consumer regulator undertaking on Fallout 76 refunds
ACCC undertaking (Australia). In a media release headed "ZeniMax to refund consumers for the Fallout 76 game" (dated 1 November 2019 on the ACCC page), the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says it "has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from three related video gaming companies after they acknowledged they were likely to have misled consumers about their consumer guarantee rights in relation to the online action game Fallout 76." The companies named are ZeniMax Media Inc, ZeniMax Europe Limited and ZeniMax Australia Pty Ltd. The ACCC says they "accepted that their actions were likely to have contravened the Australian Consumer Law" and that it received complaints that ZeniMax representatives told consumers they were not entitled to a refund after experiencing faults such as server problems, lagging, and graphic and visual problems.
Terms of the undertaking, per the release: ZeniMax "will offer to provide refunds to consumers who contacted them between 24 November 2018 and 1 June 2019 to request a refund and have not already received one", and consumers who accept "will no longer be entitled to access and play the game". ZeniMax also undertook to amend its customer service documents and scripts. The ACCC release states that Fallout 76 "was published by Bethesda Softworks LLC who is part of the ZeniMax Media Inc. family of companies" and that the game was released on 14 November 2018. This was an Australian matter under Australian law. No U.S. federal or state regulator action naming Bethesda Softworks was identified in the CourtListener RECAP party search for "Bethesda Softworks" (18 cases) run on 2026-10-18; FTC and state attorney-general enforcement pages were not searched, so this is not an exhaustive check.
Who Bethesda Softworks is
The ZeniMax Media contact page lists Bethesda Softworks LLC, 1370 Piccard Drive, Rockville, MD 20850 with the general address [email protected]. The Terms of Service that apply to Bethesda.net and its games are issued by ZeniMax Media Inc., "on behalf of itself and its subsidiaries (collectively, ‘ZeniMax’)"; the arbitration notice address in those Terms is "ZeniMax Media Inc., Attn: Legal Dep't, 1370 Piccard Drive, Rockville, MD 20850 USA".
In a federal court opinion in the Fallout 4 case described below, the court described Bethesda Softworks, LLC as "owned by Defendant ZeniMax Media Inc. (‘ZeniMax’), a video game holding company." Microsoft's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021 refers to "the March 2021 acquisition of ZeniMax Media Inc., the parent company of Bethesda Softworks LLC" and says "in March 2021 we completed our acquisition of ZeniMax Media Inc. for $8.1 billion". Bethesda Softworks is therefore a ZeniMax company that is, through ZeniMax, part of Microsoft; Microsoft has its own page on this site. This page does not describe the individual studios.
Complaint record: BBB, Trustpilot and our archive
BBB (as displayed on 2026-10-18). The BBB profile that lists "Bethesda Softworks LLC" and "Bethesda Game Studios" as alternate names is the profile for ZeniMax Media, Inc., 1370 Piccard Dr, Rockville, MD (BBB file; this page does not treat it as the file of Bethesda Softworks LLC alone). It shows: not BBB accredited; rating B-, with the reasons "Failure to respond to 1 complaint(s) filed against business" and "3 complaint(s) filed against business that were not resolved"; 84 complaints in the last 3 years, of which 35 were filed in the last 12 months; and an average of 1.07 out of 5 from 15 customer reviews. From the page data: BBB file opened March 4, 1997; business started and incorporated May 26, 1999. BBB notes that the complaint text displayed might not represent all complaints filed.
Trustpilot (as displayed on 2026-10-18). The profile "Bethesda Softworks" (bethesda.net) shows 366 reviews and a TrustScore of 1.3, a claimed profile since August 2022, and 41 reviews in the last 12 months. Trustpilot displays the notices "No recent history of asking for reviews" and "This company hasn't invited customers recently, so reviews may not be representative", and "Hasn’t replied to negative reviews". Trustpilot also says it does not fact-check reviews. The BBB and Trustpilot figures come from different platforms and are not added together.
Our archive. Two approved complaints on this site are linked to Bethesda Softworks: one from March 2006 about The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (the writer says the box stated GeForce FX cards would work and that a refund was refused) and one from November 2010 about Fallout: New Vegas on PlayStation 3 (the writer describes freezing and a console that stopped turning on). These are individual allegations and are unverified. Other archive posts that mention Bethesda concern unrelated Bethesda, Maryland businesses or retailers and are not linked.
Litigation involving Bethesda Softworks
Devine v. Bethesda Softworks, LLC (D. Md., No. 8:19-cv-02009). According to the court's memorandum opinion of October 21, 2022, a plaintiff filed this putative class action in July 2019 against Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Softworks, LLC and ZeniMax Media, Inc., "alleging damages resulting from his purchase of a ‘Season Pass’ access to downloadable content for the video game FALLOUT 4". The court granted the defendants' motion to compel arbitration, on the ground that the plaintiff assented to Terms of Service that require arbitration and delegate arbitrability questions to the arbitrator, and it deferred a ruling on the plaintiff's motion about a December 13, 2021 Terms of Service while the case remains stayed. The CourtListener docket entry describes the order as granting the motion to compel arbitration, "STAYING and ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSING" the case. The allegations were not decided on the merits. The CourtListener docket, checked on 2026-10-18, shows no entry after the October 21, 2022 opinion (RECAP coverage may be incomplete). The same order directed the clerk to close the related case Devine v. Bethesda Softworks LLC (D. Md., No. 8:21-cv-00916, filed April 13, 2021), which CourtListener shows as terminated October 21, 2022.
Other federal dockets. A CourtListener party search for "Bethesda Softworks" run on 2026-10-18 returned 18 cases. Docket facts for some of them: Meyer v. Bethesda Softworks LLC (N.D. Cal., No. 3:19-cv-00820; nature of suit "Other Fraud"; filed February 14, 2019, terminated June 20, 2019); Spasovski v. Bethesda Softworks LLC (D. Md., No. 8:18-cv-03955; filed December 21, 2018, terminated March 18, 2019); Williams v. Bethesda Softworks (E.D. Mich., No. 2:22-cv-11382; nature of suit "Copyright"; filed June 22, 2022, terminated March 22, 2023); and Armstrong v. Zenimax Media, Inc. (C.D. Cal., No. 2:21-cv-07172; nature of suit "Other Fraud"; a notice of removal from Los Angeles County Superior Court filed September 7, 2021, terminated September 10, 2021). These entries show only the court's docket data; this page does not describe what the plaintiffs alleged.
Arbitration clause (Terms of Service, last updated November 12, 2024). Section 15 is headed "Dispute Resolution, Binding Arbitration, and Class Action Waiver". The Terms say arbitration is not required for residents of the EEA, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand or Turkey. Before arbitration, a user must mail a written Notice of Dispute to the Legal Department address in Rockville; either side may sue in small claims court for individualized relief instead; and a new user may opt out of the binding individual arbitration and class action waiver "within 30 days after You first accept the ZeniMax Media Terms of Service" (Section 15(C)) by personally signing and mailing a written notification to the same address. If the dispute is not resolved within 60 days of a Notice of Dispute, either side may start arbitration before the American Arbitration Association (for users in North America) or the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (elsewhere), before a single arbitrator; the Terms also set rules for filing related cases in batches of up to 50. Read the current Terms before relying on this summary.
Is Bethesda Softworks Legitimate?
The ZeniMax Media contact page lists Bethesda Softworks LLC at 1370 Piccard Drive, Rockville, Maryland; the BBB profile shows ZeniMax Media, Inc. at that street address with a file opened in 1997; and Microsoft's 2021 annual report describes ZeniMax Media Inc. as the parent of Bethesda Softworks LLC. The company's published support channels are bethesda.net and help.bethesda.net. Documented concerns are the BBB and Trustpilot figures above, the 2019 Australian refund undertaking, and the arbitration terms; no U.S. regulator action naming the company was identified in the CourtListener party search described in the regulator section (2026-10-18). This page does not rate the company.
Court & Public Records
| Case | Authority | Dates | Type | Outcome | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devine v. Bethesda Softworks, LLC Docket 8:19-cv-02009 | U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland | Filed | Filed — no final outcome recorded The plaintiff alleged damages from buying the Fallout 4 Season Pass; these are allegations, not findings. In its memorandum opinion of October 21, 2022, the court granted the defendants' motion to compel arbitration, stayed the case and administratively closed it, and deferred ruling on the plaintiff's Rule 23(d) motion about a December 13, 2021 Terms of Service. The CourtListener docket, checked on 2026-10-18, shows no entry after that opinion (RECAP coverage may be incomplete). | Source |
Company Relationships
- Owned by: ZeniMax Media Inc.
- Owned by: Microsoft Corporation
- Affiliated with: Bethesda Game Studios
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Bethesda Softworks?
The ZeniMax Media contact page lists Bethesda Softworks LLC at 1370 Piccard Drive, Rockville, MD 20850. Microsoft's Form 10-K for fiscal 2021 calls ZeniMax Media Inc. "the parent company of Bethesda Softworks LLC" and reports that Microsoft completed its acquisition of ZeniMax on March 9, 2021.
How do I contact Bethesda support?
Bethesda's support site (help.bethesda.net) uses a ticket form: select the product, select the categories that match the issue, follow any article instructions, and fill out the form; responses appear under My Support. Questions specific to The Elder Scrolls Online go to help.elderscrollsonline.com, per the ZeniMax contact page.
What does Bethesda's help center say about refunds?
The support article on billing says: "It is not possible to obtain a refund for items purchased except in accordance with any warranty offered by ZeniMax or to the extent required by local law." It points users who bought through a store to that store's support (among others Xbox, PlayStation, Steam, Apple, Google Play, Nintendo, Epic Games and Battle.net) and says merchandise from the Bethesda Gear Store or Bethesda Store Europe is handled by those stores' own support teams; and says those who believe they qualify should contact Bethesda Customer Support.
What was the ACCC's Fallout 76 refund undertaking?
The ACCC says three ZeniMax companies acknowledged they were likely to have misled Australian consumers about refund rights for Fallout 76 and agreed to offer refunds to consumers who had asked between 24 November 2018 and 1 June 2019 and not received one. The ACCC release is dated 1 November 2019 and concerns Australian consumer law only.
Do Bethesda's terms require arbitration?
Section 15 of the ZeniMax Media Terms of Service (last updated November 12, 2024) contains a binding individual arbitration and class action waiver, with a 30-day opt-out for new users after first accepting the Terms and exceptions for residents of the EEA, United Kingdom, Australia and several other countries. The text lets either side use small claims court instead. A federal court compelled arbitration in the Fallout 4 Season Pass case on October 21, 2022.
What does the BBB show for Bethesda Softworks?
BBB lists Bethesda Softworks LLC as an alternate name on the ZeniMax Media, Inc. file in Rockville (file opened 1997). On 2026-10-18 that file showed a B- grade, citing one unanswered complaint and three unresolved ones, and 84 complaints over three years (35 in the latest 12 months). It also showed 15 reviews averaging 1.07 of 5. ZeniMax is not BBB accredited.
What does Trustpilot show for Bethesda Softworks?
As displayed on 2026-10-18, Trustpilot lists 366 reviews and a TrustScore of 1.3 for "Bethesda Softworks" (bethesda.net), a claimed profile since August 2022, and says the company has no recent history of asking for reviews, so the reviews may not be representative.
Are the Bethesda hospitals and estate-sale companies in the archive the same company?
The archive contains complaints about other businesses with Bethesda in their name or city, such as a rehabilitation hospital and an estate-sale service. Bethesda Softworks LLC is listed by ZeniMax at 1370 Piccard Drive, Rockville, MD; those other businesses are separate and are not linked to this page.
Is Bethesda Softworks owned by Microsoft?
Microsoft's Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2021 says Microsoft completed its acquisition of ZeniMax Media Inc., "the parent company of Bethesda Softworks LLC", on March 9, 2021. Bethesda Softworks is thus held through ZeniMax.