Bethesda’s insistence on releasing 2011’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on every possible format has passed through the realm of tedium and into that of humour, providing memes that can occasionally be pretty funny. But there’s a reason for this, and it’ll surprise no one: it’s still really, really popular.
“Even now, the amount of people who play Skyrim seven years later – millions of people every month are playing that game”, according to its director, Todd Howard. “That’s why we keep releasing it. If you want us to stop releasing it, stop buying it.”
For more fantasy epics like Skyrim, check out our list of the best RPGs on PC.
Howard was speaking with Geoff Keighley at Gamelab in Barcelona on Friday (reporting via GamesIndustry.biz, to whom thanks), and he makes a fair point. On PC alone, Skyrim has an estimated 13.2 million players, with the Special Edition adding a further 4.4 million, according to the achievement data that was pulled from Steam’s API last week.
And it’s still selling: Skyrim VR and Skyrim Special Edition were both in the bronze category of Steam’s best-selling games of 2018 so far.
With the base game on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC, and having been re-issued with its DLC in a Legendary Edition, and having received a remaster with the Special Edition on all current-gen consoles, and then a Switch release, and thenSkyrim VR, and yes I’ll count the tongue-in-cheekSkyrim Alexaedition, the fifth Elder Scrolls is indubitably one of the most-reissued games in history. Clearly though, Bethesda is only giving the people what we – apparently – want.