Skyrim Special Edition Release: 5 Things to Know

Bethesda's announced a Skyrim Remaster called Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition. Here, we take a look at the most important things to know about the Skyrim Special Edition release date and more as we make our way into the summer.

In 2011, Bethesda released Skyrim, an open-world RPG that was set two hundred years after the events in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Last year, Bethesda told gamers that it got Skyrim running on the Xbox One but that it only did so as a technical exercise. At the time, Howard told the publication that fans of Skyrim and the Elder Scrolls series shouldn't get their hopes up "yet."

Howard left the door open and at E3 2016 Bethesda confirmed Skyrim Remaster officially called Skyrim Special Edition.

With that in mind, we want to take a look at everything we know right now about the Skyrim Special Edition, the big changes and its upcoming release date ahead of the holidays.

Skyrim for PS4 & Xbox One

Let's start with some low hanging fruit.

As expected, the Skyrim Remaster will be available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC. It won't be released for the PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii U.

Bethesda also says that "if you own the PC version of Skyrim and all its add-ons – Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn – on Steam, you'll get a free upgrade to Skyrim Special Edition" when it releases later this year. The same applies to anyone who owns Skyrim Legendary Edition on Steam.

Xbox One and PS4 owners will have to purchase The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition at full price, it seems.

The Skyrim Remaster will also come with all of the DLC add-ons Bethesda released after the game's arrival in November of 2011.

Bethesda released three pieces of paid Skyrim DLC including Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn. The last of these, Dragonborn, was released in late 2012 for Xbox 360 and early 2013 for the PS3 and Windows PC.

Skyrim Special Edition Release Date

The Skyrim Special Edition release date won't arrive this summer. Instead, it's going to land just ahead of the holidays later this year.

The release date is confirmed for October 28th on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. It's not clear if there will be any betas or demos offered ahead of the release.

What is clear is that there won't be any VR content available for Skyrim Special Edition, at least not at the beginning.

Bethesda appears to be focused on the Fallout 4 VR release which is set to arrive on HTC Vive sometime next year.

Improved Graphics

Unsurprisingly, Skyrim Special Edition will come with a fresh coat of paint for Xbox One, Windows PC, and PlayStation 4.

Bethesda notes that Skyrim Special Edition comes with remastered art and effects including volumetric god rays, dynamic depth of field, new snow shaders, new water shaders, and screen-space reflections.

The trailer above gives you a good look at some of these in action and the screenshots here show you the difference between the PS3 version of Skyrim and the remastered version.

Needless to say, it looks much better on the current-generation console.

It's not clear what the minimum or recommended system requirements will look like for PC users. The retail listings fail to confirm that information and Bethesda isn't talking about those specifications just yet.

Bethesda typically releases that info right before the release so we'd expect those details to be made public closer to the October release date.

It's also not clear if the game will be 32-bit or 64-bit on PC. Expect those details to emerge later on this year.

Skyrim Mods for PS4 & Xbox One

Skyrim Special Edition will come with mods for PC but it will also come with mods for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The move makes sense. Bethesda just recently pushed Fallout 4 mods for Xbox One and is poised to deliver PS4 Fallout 4 mods sometime later this month.

Bethesda's Pete Hines says that most mods available for Skyrim on PC should be become available for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. And yes, that includes the rather ambitious Skywind Skyrim mod.

Hines also notes that Skyrim mods for PS4 and Xbox One should be available to download and install on release day in October.

Skyrim Special Edition Price & Deals

According to Amazon, the Skyrim Special Edition for PS4 and Xbox One will cost a full $60.

It's still early but you can also expect Skyrim Special Edition deals to drop the price of all three versions of the game.

Amazon will cut the price for its Amazon Prime members down to $47.99. And yes, this deal will be available to those who using a trial Amazon Prime account.

Best Buy will also offer 20% off for Gamers Club Unlocked members and Green Man Gaming will almost certainly offer a 20% voucher for the PC version of Skyrim Special Edition.

Keep an eye out for additional pre-orders and deals.

41 Xbox One Fallout 4 Mods You Should Try Right Now

keyNuker

Let's start with one of our favorite PC Fallout 4 mods that (fortunately) quickly made it over to the list of Fallout 4 mods for console.

keyNuker creates a key ring in your inventory that hides keys and passwords. With it installed, your MISC tab in on your Pip-Boy is going to be a lot more manageable, particularly if you're deep into the game with tons and tons of items listed. 

The screenshot here shows you what the vanilla MISC tab looks like compared to the MISC tab with keyNuker installed. It's night and day.

This is one of our favorite Fallout 4 mods and one that should consider if you're tired of wasting time scrolling through hundreds (many of them worthless) of items.

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