Next Skyrim patch adds ‘more than 200’ Kinect voice commands

Later this month, the Xbox 360 iteration of Bethesda Softworks’ The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be receiving a free patch allowing players to control the fate of the Dovahkiin using their innate vocal talents.

Yes, that means that shouting “FUS RO DAH” at your screen will finally have some tangible effect.

According to a press release issued this morning, the suite of voice commands will give users access to the game’s hotkeys, follower commands, menus, and, as one would hope, the protagonist’s bombastic Dragon Shouts. Likewise, the new Kinect functionality will offer players the ability to “quickly create and load saves” as well as rifle through their massive inventory — though it’s unclear whether the commands will allow you to simply open and close the list of in-game items, or if asking the game to apply a healing potion mid-battle will actually have restorative effects.

Unfortunately, Bethesda has yet to reveal a release date for the free patch, outside of the nebulous “later this month.” Given the company’s history with patches, that’s as likely to mean tomorrow as May 5, so we wouldn’t recommend holding your breath for this thing. On the other hand, Bethesda has promised that a full list of the vocal commands will be released prior to the patch, so we should be able to expect that relatively soon.