Skyrim is celebrating turning 11 years old, which is an achievement in itself and also a reminder of just how long Bethesda's 2011 epic RPG has remained in the gaming limelight. With no indication of when The Elder Scrolls 6 will arrive or even what stage of development it's currently at, the fifth installment in the long-running franchise is continuing to keep fans entertained. For many, it's hard to imagine the game is still pulling focus after more than a decade.
Last year, Skyrim celebrated its tenth anniversary, alongside some other beloved titles like Portal 2 and Batman: Arkham City. To commemorate TES5 reaching a decade, the developer decided to put out the "Anniversary Edition" of the game, giving players yet another chance to play a more up-to-date version of the release. But it's been an interesting journey for many, and no doubt there will be a lot of fans who will remember the day it first came out, most likely not knowing just how much of an impact it would leave on the gaming world.
Released on November 11, 2011, Skyrim was the hugely anticipated follow-up to The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, which itself garnered a huge following when it came out in 2006. With its stunning visuals, huge world to explore, and the fact that players got to fight dragons, TES5 became an instant success. Over the years, it's been ported and re-released to numerous other systems, including a rudimentary version of the game that could be played through Alexa.
Not only is it one of the most successful RPGs ever, but Skyrim is a rare game in that it's lasted more than ten years. Much of this longevity is down to a dedicated modding community that continues to put out so much content for the game. Many of these mods come in the form of custom missions or characters, tweaks to the UI, bug fixes that Bethesda evidently missed, not to mention the slew of graphical upgrades that help keep this slice of Tamriel looking pretty after all these years. As such, Skyrim has certainly stood the test of time, though many feel ready to move on to the next game.
Given that the developer released the Skyrim Anniversary Edition on Switch not long ago, Bethesda is evidently keeping up its tradition of re-releasing its lucrative asset as often as possible. Whether that's good or bad is down to personal opinion, but the fact that the game is still going strong, even as it hits its 11th year, shows that Skyrim evidently still has something going for it. Or perhaps it's because there's still no TES6 to carry on the legacy.
The Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim: Anniversary Edition is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
