A recent video showcasing Skyrim with over 500 mods installed makes the title look like a completely brand-new game. Bethesda's 2011 single-player installment of The Elder Scrolls series received an official remaster in 2016 called Skyrim Special Edition, which enhanced many of the game's visual elements while also bringing it to the then current console generation.
Even with the 2016 remaster, however, the main thing that seems to contribute to Skyrim's nearly ten-year longevity is its modding community. Bethesda appeared to realize this and made the inclusion of mods much easier as well as an official part of the game when it came to Skyrim Special Edition. As the hardware technology has improved over the last decade, so too has the quality of work the Skyrim modding community puts out and it has culminated in spectacles that were near impossible when the base game first launched in 2011.
PC Gamer recently reported on YouTuber Digital Dreams, who put out a showcase demonstrating what is currently possible in Skyrim when combined with modern technology. With over 500 mods installed as well as the inclusion of ray tracing, Digital Dreams gave their version of Skyrim Special Edition a unique 4K makeover complete with enhanced visuals, exterior weapon and armor assets, improved sound effects, and much more. The whole video demonstrating Skyrim pushed to its technical limits is in third person, allowing viewers to truly take in the full effect. There is notably, however, only one instance of combat on display and no NPC interactions during the ten-minute video.
According to Digital Dreams, other players with the same technical capabilities might have a more difficult time reproducing this version of Skyrim as the modlist for the total visual overhaul was deleted by the author a few days earlier. Though the mods themselves were not deleted in this particular instance, mod removal by their own authors has become more frequent of late due to a policy change on the popular mod site Nexus Mods. Going forward, the site will not prevent other users from recreating work of existing mods as well as prevent creators from deleting their own work. This has caused some modders to remove their creations from Nexus before the changes can be implemented and take them to other sharing sites.
Even amidst controversy in the modding community, Skyrim continues to thrive as it has done over the past decade. The nearly ten-year-old title has lent itself well to the modding practice since its launch and will likely continue to do so until at the very least The Elder Scrolls VI comes out.
Source: Digital Dreams/YouTube, PC Gamer