Valve has just announced that the highly anticipated Fallout 3 is now available for pre-purchase via their popular Steam platform. Fans of digital distribution can buy their radiation fix for $49.99 and play the game as soon as it becomes available for their region.

"Fallout 3 is one of the most important PC launches of 2008," said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. "Last year, we were able to deliver major releases such as Bioshock and Call of Duty 4 to the millions of gamers connected to Steam. With Fallout 3 added to the line up of great titles coming to Steam, this year promises to be an even better holiday season for Steam gamers."

The actual release date is set for the 28th of October in North America so securing a copy in this way should help eager role players play the game on day one without risking real world contamination by hunting a physical copy down their local video games retailers.

You can check out the Steam store page of Bethesda’s hyped title here while the full press release is available on this page.