Skyrim is part of The Elder Scrolls (TES) franchise, which spans decades across many games. It produced gaming’s most memorable moments and iconic characters. When a gamer sees Skyrim’s titular protagonist, it produces a wave of nostalgia for the game. Dovahkiin is the figure of the franchise, and 12 years since its release, a new title is on the way.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is confirmed to be in development. Todd Howard revealed in an interview in October 2022 that the game is in pre-production. With a lot of time between then and now, that game is still nowhere near complete.
While TES6 is in development, ZeniMax Online Studios continues development of the Elder Scrolls Online. ESO is an MMORPG set in the ES universe, first unveiled in 2014 with 6 expansions under its belt. A TCG named The Elder Scrolls: Legends, was published in 2017.
How did Skyrim come to be, and why is it held to a higher standard over many others like it?
Release Skyrim and its Additions
In August 2010, Todd Howard said in an interview with Eurogamer that a game is in development, but will take a while. He also revealed that Skyrim’s development went into delays due to priorities in releasing Bethesda’s other title—Fallout 3. After its release, development continued and on December 2010, Todd Howard confirmed the existence of TES: Skyrim.Â
As a direct continuation to Oblivion, it portrays the arrival of Alduin to the lands of Tamriel, threatening all life in it. Skyrim’s release met with high acclaim from critics and fans and was projected to be the best game of that year. With more pieces of story and lore to explore, players were quick to pounce with their theories.
Of course, as time went on, Bethesda released three add-ons in 2012 namely: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn. It offered new ways to play the game and enabled existing gameplay from the base game. But even with official content from the developers, it doesn’t go beyond that in terms of longevity without support.
Community
Bethesda’s greatest decision on Skyrim is to allow the integration of mods into the game. Mods from the community are possible through the Elder Scrolls Construction Set. When a game developer allows its community to add things into the game, that sets up immortality.
Games with active modding communities like Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead continue to exist for decades now. Players with boundless creativity make content for the game themselves, with other players downloading and voting for the best. This system lessens the burden of the developers, focusing only on fixes.
The community does have limitations to their patience with the developers. Despite endless modding, new content that only developers can add is required. Storylines need adding by the original writers because the community only adds fan fiction. Skyrim is out for almost 13 years, and the modders are going strong, but new content in TES6 is awaited.
With an immersive world and story, and passionate community, Skyrim rose above. It has the perfect combination of developer love and community love. If you liked this article, you can check out more on our website. You can also follow us on social media to stay updated with the latest gaming and esports news.
