In a little bit of a confusing scenario, Bethesda has confirmed that The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Anniversary Edition will not simply be appearing on Xbox Game Pass for no charge as some previously assumed. With the Skyrim Anniversary Edition release just a week away, Bethesda finally gave out some tidbits regarding price and upgrading.
It appears that with the Anniversary Edition players will not only get The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition with its next-gen framerate and resolution, but in addition will receive “every piece of Creation Club content released at the time of the Anniversary Edition’s launch, including additional quests, armor and gameplay modes.” Upgrading from the Special Edition to the Anniversary Edition will cost players an MSRP of $19.99, while just buying the Anniversary Edition will cost a solid $49.99.
Bethesda is throwing gamers a bone however, as the developer is providing a free Xbox Series X/S upgrade for Skyrim Special Edition on November 11 which won’t require the new Anniversary version of the game. Plus, owners of the Special Edition will be receiving some Creation Club content for free in the form of the introduction of Survival Mode and Fishing on November 11 as well.
Some may scoff and see this as a slight towards the goodwill Xbox, and by extension Bethesda, have built up with gamers since their merger earlier this year as not only have Xbox exclusives been steadily arriving day-and-date on Game Pass, but one can find most of Bethesda’s back catalog on the service as well.
With the same day updates to Special Edition however, it does seem that Bethesda is trying to stay in gamers’ good graces by at least offering some of the updates that the Skyrim Anniversary Edition is receiving. Still, when gamers hear that all new Bethesda games will be arriving day one on Xbox Games Pass, it’s hard not to expect that that would include an Anniversary Edition like this as well.
At the end of the day, for gamers who are yearning for the entire Skyrim experience, or have never played Skyrim at all, picking up Skyrim Anniversary Edition is the way to go. If not, and they’re just looking for an excuse to take down some dragons, then the small additions and tweaks to the Special Edition should suffice.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Anniversary Edition will be available on November 11 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Bethesda
