The province of Skyrim first opened to players 15 years ago. Bethesda Game Studios released The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on November 11, 2011, and the studio celebrated the anniversary yesterday with a new piece of art by Karl Fitzgerald. Check out the official post down below:
The Game Awards also marked the date yesterday morning, pointing out that the game launched on 11.11.11:
How Bethesda Marked 15 Years
The official Elder Scrolls account released the Skyrim Anniversary Creations bundle yesterday afternoon. It gathers 5 Creations from Bethesda's Verified Creators, and the studio says they cover a new cause to fight for, a new companion, new depths to explore, new weapons and a new player home:
The account is also running a giveaway for a set of 3 Skyrim prints from Poster Posse, with 5 winners to be picked on November 18. Bethesda Game Studios then shared behind-the-scenes footage of designer Emil Pagliarulo recording the "Fus Ro Dah" shout that is still in the game, alongside Todd Howard and Mark Lampert:
The Skyrim Of 4E 201
Skyrim takes place in the year 201 of the Fourth Era, about 2 centuries after the Oblivion Crisis. The province is split into 9 holds, each ruled by a jarl, and Solitude, Windhelm, Markarth, Riften and Whiterun are the largest of its cities. Its politics come out of the Great War between the Empire and the elven Aldmeri Dominion, which ended in a stalemate and the White-Gold Concordat. One clause of that treaty bans the worship of Talos, the deified general who founded the Third Empire.
That ban drives the civil war at the center of the game. Ulfric Stormcloak, jarl of Windhelm, leads a rebellion against the Empire, while General Tullius commands the Imperial Legion in the province. The game opens with Ulfric and the player about to be executed at an Imperial outpost, until Alduin attacks and breaks up the execution.
The dragons have their own history. In the ancient past they ruled over much of Tamriel, until 3 human warriors used an Elder Scroll to throw Alduin forward in time. The Greybeards, an order of monks in a monastery atop the Throat of the World, keep the secret of Paarthurnax, the last known dragon. Delphine and Esbern, 2 of the last surviving Blades, push the Dragonborn toward the fight against Alduin, which ends in Sovngarde, the Nord afterlife.
What Skyrim Is
Skyrim is the 5th main entry in The Elder Scrolls series, following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in 2006. It is set in Skyrim, the cold, mountainous northern province of Tamriel, 201 years after Oblivion. The player is the Last Dragonborn, prophesied to defeat Alduin the World-Eater, a dragon who has returned to destroy the world.
Skyrim was the first game in the series to put dragons in the open world. They spawn in the wilderness, fight NPCs and creatures, and can attack towns. Killing one lets the Dragonborn absorb its soul and spend it on Thu'um, or dragon shouts, made of 3 words in the dragon language. Players find the words on word walls in dungeons and across the wilderness, and some are taught by characters such as the Greybeards, the monks who train the Dragonborn atop the Throat of the World.
The game lets players play in first or third person, wield a weapon or spell in each hand, and join factions such as the Companions, the College of Winterhold, the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood. The main quest can be put off indefinitely, and the civil war runs as its own questline.
From 2011 To The Anniversary Edition
Skyrim shipped more than 7 million units in its first week and passed 20 million by June 2013. Bethesda released 3 add-ons, Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn, which were bundled with the base game in a complete edition in June 2013. The remastered Special Edition arrived in October 2016 with all 3 add-ons and upgraded visuals, a Nintendo Switch port and the separate Skyrim VR came out in November 2017, and the Anniversary Edition added Creation Club content in 2021.
Bethesda's original trailer from 2011 is still on its YouTube channel:
What Comes After Skyrim
The next game in the series now has a name. Todd Howard revealed The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel during a video for Bethesda Game Studios' 40th anniversary. Sentinel is a port city in Hammerfell, homeland of the Redguards, and the reveal quoted a Moth Priest writing in 4E 206, 5 years after Skyrim. The Elder Scrolls Online has also returned to Hammerfell, as covered in The Elder Scrolls Online Returns To The Redguard Homeland After The Sentinel Reveal.
Bethesda Game Studios also answered a fan's question about the game on X yesterday, writing, "We won't be sharing anything else related to Sentinel for some time yet."
Which side did you take in Skyrim's civil war, Ulfric Stormcloak's rebels or General Tullius and the Empire?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.