The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim came out fourteen years ago, and what a phenomenon the game has become. Even years after, it still has a loyal player base, a huge modding community, and fans that fondly remember its first release and how magical it felt to step into Skyrim for the first time. It was joined by three DLCs shortly after, each expanding on the province with sub-locations and adding proper house-building into the game, turning it into one of the most robust, modern open-world RPG experiences where players could roam free and choose their adventure.
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Bethesda has, of course, done everything in its power to try and extend the success of Skyrim over the years. These methods have been controversial among fans, with Skyrim receiving multiple versions and releases, some of them less worth the price than others, given the amount (or the lack) of new content included in each one. With the 15th anniversary of the game in 2026, it's going to be interesting to see whether we get another version or finally some much-needed The Elder Scrolls 6 news. Until then, it's high time we broke down some of these Skyrim versions and releases, ranking them from most content added to least.
The ranking of each game is based on how much gameplay content (items, quests, houses, activities, etc.) It added compared to the previous version of the game (so, the Legendary version's ranking is based on the base game release). This is not a ranking on quality; you can find that here.
Skyrim is one of my top 10 favorite games. My intention isn't to bash the game (or praise the practice of multiple releases), but to shed light on what you receive in each released version compared to the previous.
Legendary Edition
It Bundled All Three DLCs With The Latest Patch
- Base Game at the latest patch
- All 3 DLCs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn
- Not available anymore, replaced by Special Edition
It's no surprise that the Legendary Edition receives the lowest position in this ranking. Two years after the base game was first released, Bethesda bundled all three DLCs into one pack with the latest game patch and sold it at the price of $59.99. This version isn't available officially anymore, and neither is the base game, technically, as it exists unlisted on Steam.
Considering the price of the individual DLCs, this was a decent deal at the time, especially for players who still hadn't jumped into the Skyrim train and were looking to get their hands on all the content at once. What's also neat is that if you snagged one of these Legendary Editions at the time, you could get the Special Edition for free when it eventually released.
Anniversary Edition
74 Creations
- Remastered Skyrim (Special Edition)
- All 3 DLCs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn
- 74 Creations
- Current Price: $49.99 on Steam
The Anniversary Edition is a controversial one, and for good reason. Following the Special Edition, it did add quite a bit of new stuff to the game, namely, 74 Creations, which were basically paid mods previously seen in the Creation Club. Some players have close to no qualms with these mods; others argue that they make the game too easy by granting certain armor too early on, and that the quests are shallow, which doesn't justify the version's price tag.
While I'm inclined to agree, from an outsider's perspective, you can't deny the appeal of having all this extra content on top of what the previous Special Edition had (which was just four Creations). There are new weapons and armor, quests, housing, farming, explorable locations like dungeons, and stuff we had already seen in the Special Edition, like Survival Mode and Fishing. Considering the Special Edition added barely any new quests and activities gameplay-wise, as controversial as this version is, it does deliver more in quantity.
The 2017 Switch Version
Zelda-themed Crossover Items & Four Creations
- Remastered Skyrim (Special Edition)
- All 3 DLCs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn
- Amiibo rewards chest: potentially the Master Sword, Hylian Shield, and Champion's Tunic
- Current Price: $49.99 on the Nintendo store
The Anniversary Edition and Upgrade are now also available on Switch and Switch 2, but they won't be considered here.
When the Nintendo Switch was released, it was only a matter of time before Bethesda would release Skyrim on it. At this point, jokes about Skyrim being playable on smart fridges had been thrown around for years, given the variety of systems the game was available on. Switch players could get their hands on the Special Edition of the game, which was essentially a remaster of the original base game with some audiovisual upgrades. It also came with all three DLCs, but what made the Switch version really stand out was the fact that it also added in a few Nintendo-themed goodies: namely, Zelda crossover items.
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You could use amiibo as a sort of spell in the game to conjure up a chest with loot that depended on which amiibo was being used. Anything non-Zelda would yield some regular loot like alchemy ingredients, food, or gold, but Zelda figures would have a slim chance of dropping the crossover items: a sword, a tunic, and a special shield, all in Link's style. Some Zelda figures (depending on the game) even had specific drops they would grant.
It's not an extraordinary amount of new content, but at least it came with something more on top of the Special Edition release to anyone who braved the game on their Switch.
Special Edition
A Few Creations Overshadowed By A Visual Overhaul
- Engine and graphical overhaul
- All 3 DLCs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn
- Four Creations
- The Creation Club
- Current Price: $39.99 on Steam
Roughly five years after the base game's release, Skyrim received a visual overhaul with the Special Edition. It was essentially a remaster of the Legendary Edition, with four Creations and the highly controversial Creation Club microtransaction store. The four Creations included were Survival Mode, Rare Curios, Fishing, and Saints & Seducers. While Survival Mode was a welcome addition (though a bit clunky in a game like Skyrim), Saints & Seducers was a disappointment, teasing Oblivion fans with a possible trip to the Shivering Isles, only for the quest content to be rather shallow.
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While the visual upgrades were nice and gave the game an injection of modernity that likely helped it stay fresh for years after, it's undeniably the slimmest version of the game compared to its predecessor, which came with three DLCs. The four Creations didn't feel like substantial enough content to warrant a new release, and some argue that the visual overhaul should have been granted to every base game owner. If one already had the Legendary Edition by the time the Special Edition came out, luckily, it was offered as a free upgrade to owners of the previous version.
Skyrim VR
- Current Price: $59.99
It wouldn't be fair not to mention Skyrim VR as an additional point beneath the Special Edition. There's definitely a charm in experiencing Skyrim in VR just to get a laugh or two, but given its gameplay state today and how little content it added, it's tied for top spot for how little gameplay content it added.
The difference between it and the Special Edition is that it's playable with a VR headset—that's it. Of course, that means some gameplay changes were implemented, and for some, that was good enough for an immersive Skyrim experience.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 83%
- Released
- October 28, 2016
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
