The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released on November 11, 2011, and now, over 12 years later, Bethesda released another big update for this immortal game.
The update is specifically for the Special Edition which was launched on ocober 28, 2016, over 9 years ago.
One of the biggest changes is the introduction of Creations, which brings back paid mods with some significant differences from the previous attempt in 2015.
The new Creation menu combines existing mods and the Creation Club and brings forth the Bethesda Game Studios Verified Creator Program, which allows modders to become Verified Creators and set a price for their creators.
Of course, this requires abiding by a set of conditions, which are laid out in a dedicated FAQ.
- Creations must be standalone, so it cannot depend on other community releases, free or paid.
- Creations must be all-new to qualify for release. You cannot re-purpose older releases – or work by other authors, unless contracted.
- Creations cannot contain anything produced through generative AI.
All paid creations are approved by Bethesda, and to be able to become a Verified Creator, modders need to apply and be vetted by the developer to begin with.
The main difference with the previous Creation Club is that now modders are basically freelancers working on their own and enjoying royalties from their mods directly, instead of contractors paid by Bethesda.
It's also worth noting that, as in the previous systems, mods that require external assets are still banned on PlayStation due to Sony's own policies.
This system is very similar to the official marketplace that has been extremely successful in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Due to the way the system is set up, fans should likely not worry, as free mods aren't going anywhere.
Of course, the new Creations menu isn't all that's new in the update, which also brings Steam Deck and ultrawide monitor support to the PC version.
We also get plenty of bug fixes and more. You can check out the full list of changes on the official patch notes.
It's worth mentioning that the update currently breaks a lot of mods that rely on the popular Skyrim Script Extender. If you're using them, you'll have to wait until it's updated to continue playing with your current save. That usually happens rather quickly, so it shouldn't be too bad.
This can likely be interpreted as a good indicator of what fans can expect from Bethesda's new RPG Starfield, which will get its own official mod support in early 2024.
Just a few days ago, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer praised Skyrim's longevity and expressed his confidence that Starfield will achieve similar results.
