Chances are, any fan of RPGs and open world games has played at least one version of Skyrim since its release in 2011, but just how many times has Skyrim been released? Bethesda’s epic Elder Scrolls adventure was already a success at launch, following up on other success games in the franchise, and continues to attract players even a decade later. Part of its success is due simply to how many versions of Skyrim there are – Bethesda knows how surprisingly popular Skyrim still is, and it’s taken advantage of that with rereleases on most available platforms. It’s almost come to be a joke in some circles, but the repeated upgrades have worked well for Bethesda, and that means players are likely to keep seeing the game’s familiar dragon logo on digital and store shelves for a long time to come.
For those curious about how many versions of Skyrim there actually are, it can be a complicated question. There have been three main versions of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, each with a unique list of supported platforms. The base game experience saw release on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in 2011, with players having the option to expand their experience with the Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonfire expansions. Bethesda moved on to other projects initially in April 2013, but returned to Skyrim for a remastered Special Edition in October 2016. This version, which included all the official expansions, was released as a free upgrade for PC owners alongside a standard release on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
This version included further upgrades for owners of Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro, which may add two more consoles to the overall count depending on whether the half-step upgrades from the last generation count as fully-fledged platforms in their own right. The Special Edition also brought mods to living rooms everywhere via the Creation Club, further expanding the game and setting the stage for Bethesda’s third Skyrim release. This 2017 version of Skyrim on Switch even included a playable Link and a few other Nintendo-exclusive bonuses. Nintendo players also got all the DLC added in for free alongside the initial purchase, matching it with the Special Edition release on other consoles.
How Many Times Will Skyrim’s Anniversary Edition Be Released?
The latest upgrade to the game is the Skyrim Anniversary Edition, which brings yet more improvements to PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 owners, in addition to current-gen consoles like the Xbox Series X|S and PS5, It would be some time until the Switch got the Anniversary Edition, but this too came to the platform in 2022. This version not only bundles in the now-expected DLC expansions, but also includes 500+ elements from Skyrim‘s Creation Club. Essentially, this makes some of the game’s paid community content, which has to some degree been responsible for keeping the game alive for so long, into official DLC. It’s the definitive version of the game, if only for additions like Skyrim‘s survival mode, a mode that fundamentally changes and deepsn the core gameplay.
This feels as though it should be the end of the line when it comes to Skyrim releases, but there are a few other versions of the game to consider when chronicling every time Bethesda has returned to the Throat of the World. Owners of VR headsets likely already know that Bethesda has ported Skyrim to just about all of them. After releasing Skyrim on PlayStation VR to much fanfare in 2017, there was a PC release of the experience that supports HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality. There is also an audio-only version of the game that’s playable on Amazon’s Alexa platform, although this Very Special Edition is mostly a joke tying into the endless releases of Skyrim on new consoles as the years go on.
How Many Times Has Skyrim Been Released Since It First Launched In 2011?
If all possible versions of Skyrim are included, Bethesda has technically released it 17 times on ten different platforms, though some have only minimal differences (such as the GOG release of the game being DRM-free in a way that Steam’s is not):
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PlayStation 3)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Nintendo Switch)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (PC free upgrade)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (Xbox One)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (PlayStation 4)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (PC Upgrade)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (Xbox One)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (PlayStation 4)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (Xbox Series X/S)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (PS5)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (Nintendo Switch)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition (PC, DRM-free via GOG)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR (PSVR)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR (PC VR)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Alexa)
It’s a feat that the company probably won’t be lucky enough to duplicate with any other major release going forward, though time will tell how Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 fair in comparison. Now that Skyrim and the entire franchise is under the Microsoft umbrella, it’s even possible that the next Elder Scrolls adventure will appear solely on PC and Xbox, although that seems unlikely given Skyrim‘s popularity. Still, until The Elder Scrolls 6 finall releases, it’s entirely possible that Bethesda could squeeze out a few more ports of Skyrim for other consoles. It seems unlikely that it would come to the Atari VCS or the Intellivision Amico now matter how many times Skyrim has been release so far, but if there was any company that could make it happen, it’s definitely Bethesda.
