The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim came out fourteen years ago, and what a phenomenon the game has become. Even years later, it still has a loyal player base, a huge modding community, and fans who 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 of which expanded the province with sub-locations and added proper house-building to the game, making it one of the most robust modern open-world RPG experiences where players could roam freely and choose their adventure.
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Bethesda has of course done everything in its power to try to extend the success of Skyrim through the years. These practices have been controversial among fans, with Skyrim receives multiple versions and editions, some of them less worth the price than others, given the amount (or lack) of new content included in each. With the 15th anniversary of the game in 2026, it will be interesting to see if we get another version or finally a much needed one The Elder Scrolls 6 news. Until then, it's high time we broke some of these down Skyrim versions and editions, rank them from most content to least.
The ranking of each game is based on how much game 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 version). This is not a ranking of quality; you can find it here.
Skyrim is one of my top 10 favorite games. My intention is not to bash the game (or praise the practice of multiple releases), but to highlight what you get in each released version compared to the previous one.
Legendary Edition
It bundled all three DLCs with the latest patch
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Base game with the latest patch
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All 3 DLCs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn
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No longer available, replaced by Special Edition
It's no surprise that the Legendary Edition gets the lowest position in this ranking. Two years after the base game was first released, Bethesda bundled all three DLCs into one package with the latest game patch and sold it at a price of $59.99. This version is not available officially anymore, and neither is the base game, technically, as it is 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 on the Skyrim bandwagon and were looking to get their hands on all the content at once. What's also neat is that if you bought one of these legendary editions at the time, you could get the special edition for free when it was eventually released.
Anniversary edition
74 Creatures
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Remastered Skyrim (Special Edition)
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All 3 DLCs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn
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74 Creatures
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Current price: $49.99 on Steam
The Anniversary Edition is a controversial one, and for good reason. After the special edition, it added quite a few new things to the game, namely 74 Creations, which were basically paid mods previously seen in Creation Club. Some players have almost no qualms with these mods; others argue that they make the game too easy by giving some armor too early, 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 only four creations). There are new weapons and armor, quests, housing, farming, explorable places like dungeons, and things we had already seen in the special edition, like Survival Mode and Fishing. Considering that the Special Edition barely added any new missions and activities gameplay-wise, as controversial as this version is, it delivers more in quantity.
2017 Switch version
Zelda-themed crossover items and four creations
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Remastered Skyrim (Special Edition)
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All 3 DLCs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn
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Amiibo rewards chest: potentially Master Sword, Hylian Shield and Champion's Tunic
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Current price: $49.99 on the Nintendo Store
The Anniversary Edition and Upgrade are now also available on Switch and Switch 2, but they will not 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 joking about Skyrim being playable on smart fridges has been around for many years, given the variety of systems the game was available on. Switch players were able to 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 really made the Switch version stand out was the fact that it also added some Nintendo-themed goodies: namely, Zelda crossover articles.
You could use the amiibo as a kind of spell in the game to conjure up a chest of loot that depended on which amiibo was used. Something non-Zelda would yield some common loot like alchemy ingredients, food, or gold, but Zelda characters would have a small chance of dropping the crossover items: a sword, a tunic, and a special shield, all in Link's style. Some Zelda characters (depending on the game) even had specific drops they would give.
It's not an extraordinary amount of new content, but at least it brought something more beyond the special edition to anyone who braved the game on their Switch.
Special Edition
Some creations overshadowed by a visual review
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Engine and graphics overhaul
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All 3 DLCs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn
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Four creations
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The creative club
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Current price: $39.99 on Steam
About five years after the base game was released, 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 (albeit a bit clunky in a game like Skyrim), Saints & Seducers was disappointing, teasing Oblivion fans with a possible trip to the Shivering Isles, only for the quest content to be rather shallow.
While the visual upgrades were nice and gave the game an injection of modernity that likely helped it stay fresh for years afterward, it's undeniably the thinnest 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. Fortunately, if you already had the Legendary Edition when the Special Edition came out, it was offered as a free upgrade to owners of the previous version.
Skyrim VR
It would not be fair not to mention Skyrim VR as an extra item under Special Edition. There is definitely a charm in experiencing Skyrim in VR just to get a laugh or two, but considering 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 all. Of course, that means some gameplay changes have been implemented, and for some, that was good enough for an immersive experience Skyrim experience.
- Released
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28 October 2016
- ESRB
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M for Adults 17+ due to blood and gore, intense violence, language, sexual themes, use of alcohol
- Developer
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Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher
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Bethesda Softworks
