The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim players on PlayStation 3 may need to accept an unpleasant truth in the near future: The game you have is the only game you get. Your Dragonborn may not ever get to build a house or start a family with Hearthfire. The vampires already hanging out in the caves of your Skyrim are the only vampires you’ll get to fight or turn into, because expansion Dawnguard may not ever come to the PS3.
Bethesda’s been quiet about Dawnguard’s release beyond the Xbox 360 version that came out in July, and it turns out that the company wasn’t just being cagey. Dawnguard is proving a sticky wicket to fit into Sony’s console. In a post on Bethesda’s official forums the developer explained that technical issues are preventing the expansion from running properly on PS3.
“Skyrim is a massive and dynamic game that requires a lot of resources, and things get much more complex when you’re talking about sizable content like Dawnguard,” reads the statement, “We have tried a number of things, but nonw of solve the issue enough to make Dawnguard good for everyone. The PS3 is a powerful system, and we’re working hard to deliver the content you guys want. Dawnguard is obviously not the only DLC we’ve been working on either, so this issue of adding content gets even more complicated.”
“This is not a problem we’re positive we can solve, but we are working together with Sony to try to bring you this content.”
Back on Jul. 30, Bethesda hit Twitter to explain that no announcement of Dawnguard for other platforms had been made but that new content like mounted combat would come to PS3 with Skyrim patch 1.7.
Dawnguard’s problems on PlayStation 3 are none too surprising. When the game released last November, the PlayStation 3 version was plagued by frequent game crashes and crippling slowdown. The root of the problem is the way Skyrim games were saved on the console. Save files could grow to over 6MB as play time extended in the game. While patches for the game have eased those problems, the addition of Dawnguard no doubt exacerbates the original problem.
Bethesda has always had problems getting its games to run on the PlayStation 3. Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion all struggled as ports. That Bethesda is working hard to remedy these issues on the platform at all is impressive though. The game’s already sold well on the platform, more than 4 million copies worldwide, far more than the superior PC edition.
How about this…Bethesda is forced to buy back all Skyrim games purchased as new for the PS3? Refund enough coin to buy the XBOX/PC version of Skyrim from Gamestop for those with an XBOX/PC that still want to play Skyrim with the DLCs…and full amount for those PS3 users that don’t own an XBOX or DON’T want to ever play a Bethesda game title again. I’ll take my $20 right now please and head to Gamestop, promising you, Bethesda, to NEVER buy a game from you again, my used version of XBOX Skyrim satisfying my Skyrim craving forever, the XBOX DLCs the last coin you see! I won’t care about reviews or how great friends say the game is…I will simply remember who made it and avoid it, also remembering the vast hours spent playing my PS3 version only to have to start over because your team isn’t good enough. Being a father this also translates to my two sons, who won’t be allowed to buy/play another Bethesda title. Don’t say that you will do your best to cross over to other systems if your team isn’t good enough to do it! Im with the other posters that say source-it-out if your team is this inept and remember the ineptitude next time layoffs come around. Who’s the Project Leader on the DLC for PS3 by the way? Would hate to look back on my career there and see my relationship with PS3 users as a total failure.The loss of capital going forward has to be tremendous if PS3 users are serious and avoid Bethesda games and this falls directly on this team. Either refund money or get your asses in gear working overtime to finish the job…a change at Project Leader wouldn’t hurt if they’re afraid of the task at hand.
This is why they should STOP PORTING TO PS3!! Just set up a second smaller team to Work on it so it will work perfectly for the PS3.
I bet all the money in the world that if a hacker/modder for PS3 got their hands on the Source code for this gmae and DLC We would see a better “Port” that would work. and most likely be resigned for 3.41/3.55