Bethesda Reveals Upgrade Prices For Skyrim Anniversary Edition

I wanna see the updated graphics 😫

What's so confusing about that? To buy the add-ons, it's $20. To buy the whole package, it's $50. Not sure how they could've made it simpler than that, aside from just making the whole thing free (which wasn't gonna happen).

Can I buy the upgrade of I have it on gamepass?

@FriendlyOctopus I'm going to assume so. MS is selling the premium add-on pack for Forza Horizon 5 specifically targeted at Game Pass subscribers. I think this is going to be a thing going forward.

@FraserG If you're looking to Microsoft for clear naming conventions, you might be barking up the wrong tree

@FraserG Ah, thank you 😊😀

@XxEvilAshxX I hope so 😀 I don't see myself leaving game pass hahah

I'll prolly go ahead and snag the upgrade. That's a lot of new content

Nearly 50 quid for a 11 year old game. They can shove that up their Jacsis. Money grabbing bankers with a W

@SplooshDmg Praise Howard!

Microsoft (and maybe Pure Xbox) should use tables. Who doesn't like tables? I like tables. Features on the left, platforms and editions (including Game Pass only) on the top, and check marks in the body of the table to indicate which platform or edition gets what. It's as simple as that.

Todd Dan it, that's a lot of money for Creation Club content! That's it, purchase tabled.

I read that but got a bit lost... Read edition, edition, edition, edition.

Edition.

I dont get it. Why do they still try to make money out of a game older than my grandma? Id understand if bethesda wasnt with ms but with gamepass theres no point in this policy.

And people laughed at sony for trying to charge for horizon forbidden West ps5 upgrade yet this is worse, a ps3 game that's been milked for 3 console generations. I don't know who's been greedy more, Bethesda with skyrim or Rockstar with GTA 5

@SplooshDmg sorry, forgot "or Nintendo with ports"

@UltimateOtaku91 This is not worse

"owners of Skyrim SE or the AE on PS4 and Xbox X/S will receive a next gen upgrade for the game. The upgrade will be free".

Either way, whether you have th SE and buy the AE, or don't buy the AE, or are new to Skyrim all together, you get the free upgrade. And you didn't have to moan to get it. HZW was definitely worse.

@I_want_avowed
Erm, capitalism? Also, not everyone has gamepass.

@SplooshDmg Yep it was like these comments were describing what Nintendo always do, ha ha. Actually, Nintendo would have forced you to pay the full price again, even if the upgrades were absolutely minimal.

@SplooshDmg Ha ha, good point.

Eneba dot com has skyrim special edition for $18.18, "codeloyalty". So you could get skyrim anniversary for $38.17. For anyone who doesn't have skyrim already

@Richnj so charging for content made by modders on a 10year old bug ridden game isn’t worse than charging foe a premium edition of a brand new game? Ok then each to their own

I’m not saying the horizon upgrade route is correct, it’s not but to argue that it’s worse than what bathesda is doing is strange

@Artois No, because the issue with HFW was specifically that if you wanted to get the PS5 upgrade, you were forced to pay the £80 for the deluxe edition. To have access to the next gen upgrade with Skyrim, you just get it, and IF you want that extra modder content, it's £16.

Or in other words;

Skyrim gives you a free upgrade regardless, even if you just stick with the SE most people already likely have (and if they are like me, bought for like £12), and there's an extra cost of £16 if you want the decent amount of actual in game content.

HFW wanted to force people wanting an upgrade to pay an extra £20 just for an upgrade and a handful of in game extras.

Skyrim was giving stuff for free and made the extra stuff optional, HFW did not. How is calling the one that intentionally locked an expectedly free thing behind a pay wall worse, strange? How is calling the one that gave stuff away for free and gave players more freedom on paying or not paying better, strange?

Can I also point out how disingenious "charging foe a premium edition" is.

@SplooshDmg Yep, I didn't know how much it makes per year but I wasn't sure that buying Minecraft/Mojang for £2.5 billion was a good move because it was many years after it was a success but the game keeps rocking somehow! I guess that Microsoft didn't lose money after all.

@Artois You can't even upgrade the PS4 version but you need to buy the Deluxe Edition for £80. Many people can't find a PS5 (or Series X). If they get the PS4 version and later on they find and buy a PS5 and want the PS5 version they have to buy the PS5 version for £70. That's £130 if they were not aware of all this. On Xbox, you normally get the Series X version for... £0 except for a few games. Even considering some don't get the upgrade for free on Xbox, like Skyrim, the difference is gigantic.

@SplooshDmg Oh I didn't now that they backtracked because of a probably rather ferocious backlash! 😂 Thanks for updating me, I have a PS4 but not a PS5.

EDIT: I just read a bit and it says that after Horizon 2, Sony will offer $10 upgrades but not free.

@SplooshDmg Yeah, $10 for upgrading makes more sense than $80 or $60+70=130 😂. So #1 Xbox, up from #98 to #2 Sony and Nintendo stuck in #99 in regard to upgrade pricing 😅.

@SplooshDmg Ha ha. Yep, on Xbox you have Rewards to get some freebies every now and then and, of course, Game Pass!

@BlueOcean what upgrade? Ocarina upgrade is tied to last gen handled hardware. Mario 64 upgrade was sold for 8 months on switch. Now you can play either in a poorly emulated version of the original version for only $45 a year......... But it's cool because they threw in Ecco the Fudging Dolphin & Knuckles.

I think people are getting confused with how this update works.

For free, if you own the game or have Game Pass, you get the next-gen update with 4 Creation Club content additions.
If you want the rest of the Creation Club content, you pay that £15.99 / $19.99 upgrade fee.

Now bare in mind, a lot of this content is made by fans that are approved by Bethesda to sell through the Creation Club, so that upgrade fee will no doubt be partially going to these creators.

@SplooshDmg Ha ha but I must say that's a bit too little after 13 years with no games. The fact that Banjo and Kazooie are included in Smash Bros. and the first game in Nintendo Switch Online gives me hope that it's a marketing strategy before the next game!

@NEStalgia Ha ha. Truth is, Nintendo have been going backwards after Wii U. Paid poor online services, no cross-buy or upgrade fee, barely any new game at all supporting one system instead or two... But you can buy Wii U ports for Switch with a 0% discount or a 10% surcharge!! You had 8 months to buy Mario's legacy (again) and now you can pay premium for emulating games worse than everywhere else! This is the Nintendo of today.

@SplooshDmg @BlueOcean I have no doubt that a new Banjo Kazoiee will be made at some point - and hopefully this gen.

Microsoft are not stupid. They know what they have in their pocket and have proven they are happy to make games from classic series with upcoming titles from the Fable and Perfect Dark franchises.

So I think it is only a matter of time, but they won’t put out a half baked version.

Personally, I think they could even make a remaster of the originals and it will sell like hot cakes. But that’s just me.

Tbh, I might get this since on Xbox since this particular iteration isn't coming to Switch and that's where I played the game when it first came out. I just associate ES with Xbox, for some reason.

@SplooshDmg Visually, Sea of Thieves is incredible and Gregg Mayles (Banjo-Kazooie's director and designer) still works at Rare. I would like Rare and Playtonic to make it because there is Rare's talent there. Heck, just acquire Playtonic, end of the problem! I really liked Playful's game, controls are very tight in both Xbox games and I thought that it was quite funny. I'm not sure about Nintendo, they are so difficult to deal with and they are becoming dull (in my opinion). I mean, they are doubling down on accessible games and they make them as simple and easy as possible so more people play them. Super Mario Odyssey, Animal Crossing New Horizons... Mario Kart 8! I've been a Mario Kart fan all my life and Mario Kart 8 is sooo boring, it's like you're not really racing at all and the 200cc mode is just out of control. I have it on Wii U and Switch (the only Wii U port I also bought on Switch) but I just don't get it. The first Banjo-Kazooie is accessible but it's so witty and full of secrets, charm and challenges. It just has it all.

@Kienda Hopefully! I think they should remaster or remake the first games before releasing the new game 😉.

@SplooshDmg When I say Nintendo (and I might not be right in doing so) I mean Nintendo and not studios they acquired or that they bring projects to. Fire Emblem is Intelligent Systems, Luigi's Mansion is Next Level Games since 2, Metroid is Retro Studios or Mercury Steam... Nintendo actually cut a lot of content from Metroid Dread according to its developers to make the game simpler. To me there is a big difference between Nintendo and what is done for Nintendo outside Nintendo.

The current boss of Rare said so, true, but he also backtracked a little bit recently. Gregg Mayles didn't say that he seriously doesn't want to make a new Banjo-Kazooie game, though. Then they make new things that nobody knows where they are going to, like Everwild... At least, they took part in Killer Instinct 3 and Battletoads 2020 development so they appreciate and are still interested in their older (and better) IPs. I wonder if they are also involved in the new Perfect Dark, it doesn't seem so but we'll see.

Microsoft acquired a lot of studios but not Playtonic? It doesn't make any sense to me.

I think that a Banjo-Kazooie remaster or remake would count as "new game announcement" even if it's technically not correct, especially considering how much hype surrounds Banjo-Kazooie.

@BlueOcean Considering Mercury Stream's penchant for BS combat, I'm probably glad they cut content. The game turned out good. The emmi are a sticky gimmick, and the last third of the game is just non stop back to back boss battles, the final fight being total BS. Even souls fans seem to acknowledge just how brutal that one is!

But yeah, Nintendo and Sony, you can see the same pattern. The leadership was replaced with businessmen instead of game industry people. Sales, marketing, and finance guys that see games, toothpaste, and fried chicken as the same class of consumer product. And financially they appear to be right.... Accessible games can be fun. Kirby was brainlessly easy from the beginning but always fun. Until that last one.... It's not the accessibility that hurts it. It's the one note nature of the whole thing. Like most of the industry I guess, but they just crank things by formulas of the assembly line for consumption.

ACNH is a special kind of terrible though. If it launched today with the new content instead of a year and a half ago, it probably could have been a great game. Releasing half a game after everyone already played it feels like... Well... Cyberpunk...

I have the Special Edition on disc. Could someone please tell me whether I therefore qualify for the free upgrade, or do I have to go via a paid route? It's the fact that I fact that I have the game on disc that confounds me as I assume the free upgrade is via a digital download. Is it simply a question of a file update for me, and I still then need to use the disc? Completely baffled by all the differing criteria...

@SplooshDmg No, by then you'll be playing Dread Remastered for $69.99. it's the same game running at 1080p native with 2 new bosses and an easy mode.

I'm more of a 2d toothpaste fan. Indie toothpaste is so much better then Colgate, but of Jim says 3d toothpaste is better then it has to be better and I'm willing to pay the $10 to upgrade.

Ac is a wonderful series. Acnh is just a bland boring bad mobile game running on a console that people fanatically love for no reason I can comprehend, as a long time fan of the series. New leaf was fantastic..... This is new leaf with 50% less content and zero personality.

This is exactly what Sky did with TV, charge a sub and chuck ads in your face too, and everyone is lapping it up like good little doggies.

I fully expect to see gamepass day ones to become glorified demos with a $60 full game fee eventually. Well done everyone!

@NEStalgia I'm glad you understood me. That's what I mean when I say that Nintendo is Nintendo. The studios that they have acquired or that they give projects to are their own thing. There's a clear distance (not just physical) in between to the point that Nintendo may very easily cut a lot of content (Metroid Dread) or even cancel the whole project and start again (Metroid Prime 1 and Metroid Prime 4). When they don't, they tell them exactly what they have to do. I'm not saying that's a good thing or a bad thing, I'm saying that's a thing. Nintendo has very specific "rules" that they have been changing as the new businessmen took control, as you explained. Creative or development differences aside, now the numbers count more than ever and, in that sense, Nintendo have nothing to do with what they were some years ago.

Thank you, @SplooshDmg. That's very helpful...

Does anyone know whether the Creation Club stuff will disable achievements (as it did in, if I recall correctly, Fallout 4)?

@Fiendish-Beaver No it won't. The creation club stuff is Bethesda approved and works like in house DLC.

The stuff that disables achievements and trophies is the unapproved mods.

I am happy to pay for any additional content for any game on any platform and agree that this should be the expectation. Dev work is not cheap and people should be paid for any work they do simple as.

That being said I agree that there is a certain level of hypocrisy on this site when it comes to paid upgrades and now when it is Microsoft charging for it people are now crowing about it being fair.

Again I have a platform agnostic approach when it comes to gaming. I am playing Skyrim on XSX and new GTA Trilogy on PS5 so I am not trying to stir the pot but I do find it irritating that some of the commenters do a fair but if flip flopping on their thoughts around this subject.

Anyway Skyrim with the additional content a d upgrades will be cool until Starfield and ES6 so take my cash.

I'm more annoyed that I bought The Forgotten City a coupla weeks before it came out on Gamepass.

So here, take my money quickly, before Mrs Isca finds out....

@Alpha_Pulse There's no hypocrisy. The next gen upgrade for Skyrim is free. HFW was going to be locked behind a pay wall.

Having checked out the Pushsquare article comments, it's clear that the guys over there just didn't understand or didn't read what the article and linked FAQ said before spamming "oh so it's OK for Skyrim but not HFW?. Hypocritical much?".

@Richnj I don't think this is about misreading one article this is the temperature of the room from the extreme fans on both sides. My comparison wasn't about HFW but more a generalisation of what I've seen this generation.

Anything good MS do an extreme Sony fan will be there to muddy the waters and vice versa.

@Alpha_Pulse Well, yeah, extreme fans are going to be hypocrites. They've always been like that. Will always be like that, but you said

"That being said I agree that there is a certain level of hypocrisy on this site when it comes to paid upgrades and now when it is Microsoft charging for it people are now crowing about it being fair."

This isn't a generalisation, this clearly about upgrades, of which, we know that MS have implemented smart delivery so that customers aren't paying twice for the same game. And Skyrim doesn't have a paid next gen upgrade either. It has a DLC bundle/AE upgrade that is available on both gens, and the next gen version is free to all Skyrim SE/AE owners. And since it was HFW that had the next gen upgrade locked behind a pay wall, that was the game that had the massive backlash and backtrack, and is the game that got brought up by other commenters as the example of Xbox fans being hypocritical, it is the game I'm going to refer to.

And again, I'm sure there's plenty of BS from either side, but this isn't one.

@Richnj yes a generalisation of upgrades not specifically about Skyrim and HFW but about the ongoing debate this generation. As great as the MS offering is (I should know I'm benefiting from it) I am conscious that I am paying a subscription for this too. Which makes it an easier pill for MS to swallow as long as they are pulling in the recurring revenue somehow. But you are right this probably wasn't the best article to refer to this problem. I just see it so damn much!

Just to reiterate I think any upgrade where work has taken place should be paid so happy to foot the bill. That being said some of the Sony tactics have been pretty god awful forcing players down a route of Sony's choosing. But as long as people are paying (which they are) what's stopping them?