On September 28 of this year, Bethesda released The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Anniversary Edition for the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, players were met with a whole slew of performance issues upon launching the game. These were especially prominent when running Creation Club content as well as the game’s Survival Mode.
Bethesda is currently looking into what might be causing the performance drops in Skyrim Anniversary Edition for Switch. That said, there are other members of the community who are trying to get to the bottom of the issue themselves. A few Redditors seem to have found the root of the problem, but Skyrim’s constant re-releases are a symptom of a much bigger issue.
The Problem with Skyrim on Switch
A popular post on the Nintendo Switch subreddit highlights the framerate issues of Skyrim Anniversary Edition, with many users commenting in agreement. Some have even expressed their complaints about the game’s price tag, which is a whopping $70, though it’s only a $20 upgrade for those who own the original edition of Skyrim on Switch. For many, paying this much for a game that came out years ago is too much, and the apparent performance issues only make matters worse.
According to user NylesRX, who says they’re part of Skyrim Switch’s modding community, the issue lies in the game’s coding. The modders did some investigation of their own and found that Skyrim Anniversary Edition on Switch actually runs pretty well, but only if all the extra add-ons are disabled. In short, the more extra content a player has, the more abysmal the game’s performance.
Unsurprisingly, this drew even more negative attention for Skyrim Anniversary Edition on Switch. The exorbitant price tag and the haphazard coding were already bad enough, but the fact that this port isn’t easily modded means that players won’t have an easy solution to the game’s frame rate drops and other such performance issues.
How Many More Skyrim Releases?
It seems absurd to release an 11-year-old game with a price point as steep as $70, yet it’s exactly what Bethesda has done. The company is aware of the popularity of Skyrim, which is why the community is seeing so many re-releases. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if these new iterations are rife with bad coding and game-breaking bugs. As long as there’s still a market for these subpar re-releases, Bethesda will likely continue to beat its not-quite-dead horse.
Because of the steadfast focus on Skyrim, Bethesda's other Elder Scrolls titles have been neglected, despite a desire from fans for remakes or re-releases. Admittedly, these older games would take time to fix up as the company would have to update its graphics and mechanics to modern standards, but it would be a treat for fans of the series, both new and old. For instance, many in the community are still hoping for remakes or even remasters of Morrowind and Oblivion. These titles are still well-loved by longtime fans. They also present an excellent opportunity to introduce newer players to another side of Tamriel, one not easily replicated by The Elder Scrolls Online.
At the end of the day, Skyrim Anniversary Edition for Switch showcases a longstanding problem with Bethesda: its inability to let go of Skyrim. However, it’s hard to blame the company, especially since players continue to purchase the game, providing Bethesda with a bankable source of profit. Until the community stops lending its support to subpar re-releases, players can expect more iterations of Skyrim in the coming years.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Anniversary Edition is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
