Bethesda turns Skyrim into a mod platform with new Creations feature

By Tomas Franzese December 5, 2023

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is over 12 years old at this point, but a hefty Bethesda Game Studios update that dropped today is meant to revitalize its modding community. It turns the game into an easily accessible platform with user-made mode content, even on console.

Bethesda Game Studios

Building on what was once the Bethesda Creation Club, this new feature is called Bethesda Game Studios Creations. Its first implementation is in Skyrim Special Edition and Skyrim Anniversary Edition across PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, and PS5. Bethesda created a Creations storefront where players can buy and download mods that add anything from items to new characters and questlines. It’s also letting Skyrim mod creators join its Verified Creator program so they can set prices for their mods and earn royalties from the sales.

I checked out Skyrim Special Edition on Xbox Game Pass to see how this system impacts players. A “Creations” tab is present on the main menu, and picking that option will bring you to an in-game storefront with a variety of potential modes to purchase. There, players can purchase credits, pursue mods they want to buy, and then spend those credits on the mods. After doing this, they can show up in-game. This setup should seem familiar if you’ve pursued user-generated content in games like Fortnite or Roblox, but can also be ignored if you aren’t interested. On PC, you can also just mod the game on your own.

Aldmeri Anti-Mage is one of the mods available through Bethesda Game Studios Creations in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. — Aldmeri Anti-Mage is one of the mods available through Bethesda Game Studios Creations in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Niero / Bethesda Game Studios

This feature works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition and Anniversary Edition across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The game is also available for Nintendo Switch.

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Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

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