The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Special Edition

Overview

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a 2011 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth main installment in The Elder Scrolls series, following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006), and was released worldwide for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on November 11, 2011. Skyrim was developed using the Creation Engine. The team opted for a rugged, largely sub-arctic world, after Oblivion's Imperial Province of Cyrodiil, which game director and executive producer Todd Howard considered more unique by comparison.

The game is set 201 years after the events of Oblivion and takes place in Skyrim, the northernmost province of Tamriel, a continent on the planet Nirn. Its main story focuses on the player character, the Last Dragonborn, on their quest to defeat Alduin the World-Eater, a dragon prophesied to destroy the world. Throughout the game, the player completes quests and develops the character by improving skills. The game continues the open world tradition of its predecessors by allowing the player to travel to discovered locations in the game world at any time, and to ignore or postpone the main storyline indefinitely.

Upon release, the game received critical acclaim, with praise for its character advancement, world design, visuals, and the ability to dual-wield in combat. Criticism targeted the melee combat, dragon battles, and numerous technical issues at launch. The game shipped over seven million units within the first week of its release and over 20 million by June 2013, while by July 2026 total sales reached 65 million copies. It is considered one of the greatest video games ever made, and is credited as influencing later fantasy and open-world games.

Official trailer

Live Action Trailer. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

Skyrim Special Edition 4K 60FPS Gameplay (Ultra Graphics), RGR29. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Role-playing (RPG), Adventure

Developer

Bethesda Game Studios

Publisher

Bethesda Softworks

Series

The Elder Scrolls

Engine

Creation Engine

Platforms

Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox One

Age rating

ESRB M

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

No

Co op

No

Age ratings

USK

16

CLASS IND

18

PEGI

18

CERO

Z

GRAC

19+

ESRB

M

ACB

MA 15+

Release dates

Editions

Check out the store

Space and patches

Space needed12 GB

DLC

Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn are included. The Anniversary Upgrade adds 74 Creation Club items for US$19.99, and more Creations are sold in game.

Items

Name	Date	Adds	Price	Obtainable today
Anniversary Upgrade	2021-11-10	74 Creation Club items, fishing, aquariums	US$19.99	Yes

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

Everything still works.

Online

Online servers runningYes

Plays offlineYes

Services

Service	Status
Creations store (paid add-ons)	running
Bethesda.net mods	running

What remains

Everything. The game is single-player; the in-game Creations store and mods still work.

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Developer	Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher	Bethesda Softworks
Director	Todd Howard
Producers	Ashley Cheng, Craig Lafferty
Designers	Bruce Nesmith, Kurt Kuhlmann, Emil Pagliarulo
Programmer	Guy Carver
Artist	Matthew Carofano
Writer	Emil Pagliarulo
Composer	Jeremy Soule

Credits

Publisher

Bethesda Softworks

Developer

Bethesda Game Studios

Director

Todd Howard

Released

2016-10-28

Age rating

ESRB M

Region

US

Time to beat

about 180 hours