So what is Skyrim Anniversary Edition and what's actually in it?

So what is Skyrim Anniversary Edition? No, it isn't some elaborate self-parody by Bethesda about its habit of re-releasing The Elder Scrolls V. It is in fact a new version of the long-running and ever-popular open world RPG from 2011 that Bethesda is launching for the game's tenth anniversary. Bethesda is calling it "the most definitive version of Skyrim to date," which I suppose leaves us open to the very real possibility of a Skyrim Extra Special 15-Year Barrel Aged Edition five years from now. 

In any event, Bethesda is launching The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition this November. Given the number of Skyrim versions that have already been released over the years, you'll want to know exactly what this one includes to decide whether it's an upgrade worth buying. Here's everything we know about what the Skyrim Anniversary Edition will include.

When is the Skyrim Anniversary Edition release date?

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition launches on November 11, 2021. That's ten years to the day since the original game came out, if you don't remember the clever "11/11/11" marketing from back then. If you already own Skyrim Special Edition from 2016, it will be released as an update to your current game rather than a separate game listing in your library. 

What is the Skyrim Anniversary Edition?

Bethesda is calling the Anniversary Edition "the most definitive version of Skyrim to date." That's not the most concrete explanation, so it might help to think of Skyrim Anniversary as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition - Definitive Edition. That definitely clears things up, right?

Okay, Skyrim AE is a bit like a Game Of The Year release for Skyrim Special Edition. It includes Skyrim SE and also bundles in all of the previously released premium Creation Club additions. It will also add some next-gen upgrades, Bethesda says, but we don't know just what those will be yet and how much of an impact they'll have on PC players.

What's included in the Skyrim Anniversary Edition? 

When you buy Skyrim Anniversary Edition, here's what's actually included:

• Skyrim Special Edition
• Skyrim's original DLCs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn
• Next-gen improvements for Skyrim SE
• All 48 previously released Creation Club items
• 26 new Creation Club items

If you'd forgotten about Bethesda's Creation Club, it's a marketplace of paid DLCs developed either internally by Bethesda or by approved external creators. The 48 current Creation Club items that you'll get access to as part of Skyrim AE range from special weapons, to new enemy types, quest expansions, and gameplay changes. 

Some of the new Creation Club items arriving alongside Skyrim SE on November 11 include Morrowind-inspired weapons and armor and a quest expansion called The Cause. In total, Bethesda says that the 74 Creation Club items included with Skyrim AE represent over 500 new gameplay elements.

Players who don't upgrade to Skyrim AE are also getting four of those Creation Club items free on November 11. They'll receive the Saints and Seducers quest expansion, Rare Curious expansion, Survival Mode, and the Fishing skill and quests.

What if you already own Skyrim Special Edition? 

So what happens if you already own Skyrim SE? Bethesda says that current owners and Xbox Game Pass subscribers will have the option to upgrade to Skyrim AE. Bethesda hasn't yet revealed the prices for buying a new copy of Skyrim AE versus upgrading from Skyrim SE.

Even if you don't buy the Anniversary Edition of the game, those four free Creation Club items will be added to your game for free.

Will the Anniversary Edition mess up your mods? 

As is often the case with game updates: yes, Skyrim AE will probably affect some game mods you have installed for Skyrim SE. It's not clear just yet how big of an impact it will have and how long certain mods will be out of commission. 

Some modders are preparing for the worst. They expect that the Skyrim Script Extender, a foundational mod for many other Skyrim SE mods, will need to be updated. SKSE's developers suspect that other plugin mods will also be affected for an unknown length of time until they can be updated. Some mods on our list of best Skyrim Special Edition mods do require SKSE, such as SkyUI and Legacy of the Dragonborn.

If you're particularly attached to your modded version of the game, the safe advice seems to be turning off auto-updates on Steam prior to the November 11 launch date. That way you won't wind up with a game version that's suddenly incompatible with all your mods, as happened with Fallout 3 recently.

Skyrim Anniversary Edition system requirements

Bethesda has not revealed the system requirements for Skyrim Anniversary Edition yet. Since Skyrim AE is a version of Skyrim SE with some next-gen updates, we can likely expect its system requirements to meet or exceed Skyrim SE's. Here are the recommended system specs on PC for Skyrim Special Edition as a starting point: 

• Operating System: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit Version)
• Processor: Intel i5-2400 or AMD FX-8320
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB or AMD R9 290 4GB
• Storage: 12 GB available space

What else do we know? 

Bethesda has said that in November all Creation Club installed quests won't initialize on startup, meaning you won't be bombarded with new quest notifications each time you start a new game. Instead, you'll find those quests out in the world.

Bethesda is also hosting an anniversary concert on November 11 at 11am PDT featuring the London Symphony Orchestra live on YouTube and Twitch.