Quickly turning into Bethesda Game Studio’s most profitable launch and one of many best-selling video games of all time, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has remained a fixture of the corporate’s lineup even years after it hit cabinets, with the studio repackaging and reselling it a number of instances. From handheld ports and next-gen upgrades to full-on VR recreations, Skyrim is a sport which you could play just about wherever at this level.
But, with so many variations of Skyrim to select from, which must you play in 2024? With a number of editions unfold throughout PlayStation, Xbox, PC and even Switch, it may be tough to know which launch of the sport is finest fitted to the expertise you are trying to find. Luckily, we have you coated. Below, we have put collectively a full information on all of the variations of Skyrim at the moment accessible and what’s included in every bundle. You ought to have loads of time to play it earlier than The Elder Scrolls 6 arrives.
How Many Versions of Skyrim Are There?
In whole, there have been seven distinctive releases of Skyrim launched throughout 9 completely different platforms. One of those is a model utterly playable via Amazon Alexa often called Skyrim: Very Special Edition, which functioned completely via voice instructions. It was largely launched as a easy, enjoyable nod to the numerous memes about how incessantly Skyrim was remastered and, though we will recognize Alexa dryly describing your epic showdown with a wandering Mudcrab, we can’t embrace it within the record.
We’ll even be transferring previous 2013’s Skyrim: Legendary Edition, which was a bundle together with the bottom launch of the sport and its three expansions. With the discharge of Special Edition in 2016, Legendary Edition was delisted from Steam. Although you possibly can technically nonetheless purchase second-hand bodily copies of this model on Xbox 360 and PS3, it is not a product Bethesda nonetheless sells and so it is one we’ll skip over.
That leaves us with 5 completely different variations of Skyrim to run via. So, with out additional ado, let’s get began.
Every Skyrim Edtion in Order
1. Skyrim – PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (2011)
The first model of Skyrim that launched all the best way again in 2011, the usual version is about as vanilla as Skyrim will get. Launching on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, it laid the inspiration for the sport’s numerous up to date ports within the years following its launch. However, in 2024, it is most likely not value in search of out.
Unless you continue to have an Xbox 360 or PS3 handy, this may largely be an possibility for PC gamers, and even then, most digital PC storefronts do not even have it seem of their search bars following the discharge of Skyrim: Special Edition. As for why, It comes bundled with not one of the expansions or the visible and gameplay updates that had been included within the extra trendy variations of the sport. Considering Special Edition Skrim is kind of incessantly discounted on storefronts like Steam and GOG, the Standard Edition has been made barely redundant within the years since.
That being stated, in the event you’re trying to faucet into Skyrim’s older modding scene, it could nonetheless be value trying out. On each Steam Workshop and Nexus, you will discover mods for the unique model of the sport, and whereas they is probably not as superior because the mods that may be constructed on Special Edition, there is a ton of them to check out.
2. Skyrim: Special Edition – PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X (2016)
Launching 5 years after the usual version, Skyrim: Special Edition is the commonest model of the sport at the moment accessible. Bundled on this model, you will get all three of the sport’s main expansions, Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn, in addition to a set of visible upgrades, together with remastered textures and vastly upgraded lighting.
One of the most important additions is entry to the Creations tab, which lets you obtain free mods made by the group in addition to paid Creation Club content material packs licensed by Bethesda. This function is included on console too, that means you possibly can lastly get a style of the sport’s modding scene with no need to play the sport on PC. Skyrim: Special Edition is usually discounted on console and PC, but it surely will also be downloaded via Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Extra, making it one of many best variations to get your fingers on.
This actually is the core model you will be taking a look at in the event you simply need a no frills, commonplace Skyrim expertise with all the standard of life updates that include extra trendy {hardware}. It’s straightforward to get both via subscription providers or gross sales, and has all the enlargement content material included, in addition to the choice to increase your playtime or combine issues up with in-built entry to mods.
3. Skyrim: Special Edition (Nintendo Switch) – Switch (2017)
Although technically one other port of Skyrim: Special Edition, the Nintendo Switch model deserves its personal spot on the record for being a full handheld port which you could play on the go.
The Switch launch additionally has just a few distinctive options outdoors of its portability. Players can change on movement controls, utilizing the JoyCon to assault with a sword or pull again the string of a bow, whereas the sport additionally consists of distinctive Zelda-themed objects, together with Link’s tunic, a Hylian Shield and the Master Sword. If you are trying to clear just a few dungeons in your commute to work, that is the model for you.
4. Skyrim VR – PC, PlayStation 4 (2017)
Just a yr after the discharge of Special Edition, Bethesda determined to launch an alternate model of Skyrim that may ramp up its immersion to new heights. This new port was Skyrim VR, which does precisely what it says on the tin. Using a PSVR or Windows-based headset, gamers can hop into Skyrim’s world recreated in digital actuality, permitting them to discover its icy plains from a brand new perspective.
Skyrim VR consists of the total base sport and its expansions whereas implementing movement controls, with gamers utilizing VR controllers to swing swords, draw bows and choose up objects. In essence, it is one other model of Special Edition however absolutely skilled via a VR headset, so if you’d like a brand new method to discover Skyrim and have the tech essential to play it, it might be one to check out.
5. Skyrim: Anniversary Edition – PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Switch (2021)
The newest model of Skyrim, Skyrim: Anniversary Edition launched in 2021 to rejoice the sport’s ten-year anniversary. In essence, it is extra of an enlargement to Special Edition than a full-fledged remaster, bundling collectively an inventory of over 70 Creation Club mods for a reduced worth. Included are new quests, weapons, armor units, homes, enemies, dungeons, spells and options, alongside much more.
You should purchase Skyrim: Anniversary Edition as a full sport, however in the event you already personal Skyrim: Special Edition, you possibly can improve to the Anniversary version for a decrease value as an alternative. Anniversary Edition positively is not an important add-on to the sport, however in the event you’ve already wandered the world of Skyrim for years at this level and need to freshen issues up to your subsequent playthrough, it is value a glance.
Callum Williams is a freelance media author with years of expertise as a sport critic, information reporter, guides author and options author.
