Another winter, another new Skyrim save file. You may be asking why I own this particular game on multiple different platforms, and sometimes more than once on one platform (looking at you Special Edition). You may think it s because I like to create a different character build each time, a wise mage, a heavy melee warrior, or a stealthy archer. You may think it s because I want to change whose side I m on, the Stormcloaks or the Imperials. You may even think it s because I really want to give playing as a Khajiit another go because they just look so damn cute, but are so horribly bullied it actually affects my real-life anxiety. If you re thinking it s because of any of these. You re wrong.

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There must be something in that icy water that makes the Elder Scrolls mod scene so volatile. Skyrim Together, a project to convert The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim into an online co-op adventure, was raking in a staggering $25,000 a month on Patreon up until allegations of code-theft from the Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) torpedoed it. The good news is that it’s still in development, but you might be waiting a while. Yesterday on Reddit, the developers confirmed that the project is still alive despite the “entire codebase” being “scrapped”, later clarified as just being in the middle of a major restructuring.

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While fast travel is convenient in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, teleporting around loses the wonder of roaming an open world. If only we could have the convenience of automatic travel without atmosphere ruining-loading screens. Friends, with the wonders of modern modding, we can now set a destination for our Dragonborn and watch them automatically walk or ride to your destination in real time. Call it slow travel. Call them self-driving characters. Call it a game to idly watch. Call it… new mod SkyTrek.

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The Elder Scrolls 6 is still a (long, long) ways off, but Bethesda have confirmed the only news about it that truly matters: YouTuber and grandmother Shirley Curry will be included in the game. Last year, fans rallied to get her added as an NPC, and the developers have obliged, inviting Curry to their studios have her likeness scanned and saved for use in their development magic. The future is here and it s nice sometimes, actually.

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There are so many elements of this story which elicit slow, confused blinking from me, but honestly, the revelation that an Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim mod has been pulling in $25,000 per month from Patreon was the one which really twisted my melon.

Unfortunately, the rainbow which leads to online multiplayer mod Skyrim Together‘s pot of gold has lost a little of its lustre this week, following an acknowledgement that its developers had pilfered code from another mod.

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Enderal: Forgotten Stories is out now on Steam, making it the first Skyrim mod to launch as a (mostly) standalone game with achievements, cloud save support and even its own mod workshop. Set in its own, somewhat darker and grittier fantasy universe, Enderal is a well-known total conversion mod from SureAI, with this free Steam release being an expanded and polished edition. You’ll need the original version of Skyrim, but otherwise it can be installed as a totally separate game. Sadly, if you only have Skyrim: Special Edition, you’ll need to grab the original version too.

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After some behind-the-scenes wrangling with Valve, Enderal: Forgotten Stories hits Steam next Thursday, February 14th as a free, standalone game for anyone who owns Skyrim. Originally a mere mod (set in its own world entirely separate from The Elder Scrolls), you won’t even need Skyrim installed to play this version of Enderal. Developers SureAI say the Forgotten Stories version boasts more quest-lines, new character classes, a new (hidden) ending and other upgrades – it even has its own Steam Workshop for mods. See the very dramatic new trailer below.

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Here’s one to put on your Fus Ra-Dar. A Skyrim multiplayer mod is about to enter closed beta, and will soon offer you and up to seven friends the chance to explore the snowy bit of Tamriel together. The devs say the closed beta won’t last long, and an open one will be hot on its heels.

It is worth bearing in mind that they said the mod was almost ready back in 2017. You’d be forgiven for thinking it would (Duh) Neh Viir come out, but if you Lis Slen Nuz your doubts should be set to rest.

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The Elder Scrolls Online is both an attempt to further the Elder Scrolls formula into something more dynamic and living, and a game that often seems dependent on nostalgia for its continued existence. 2017’s Morrowind expansion took us back to Elder Scrolls’ finest hour, last year’s Summerset was our first return to a land not seen since Arena, the original Scrolls game, and next, here be dragons. Again. And also many, many cat-people.

Pictured above is a photo of my cat wearing a promotional Skyrim hat in 2012. On brand, yeah?

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is as much a platform for mods as it is an open-world RPG about dumb dragons and dumber Vikings. Over the last seven years, an inconceivable number of them have been crafted, and while plenty have fallen by the wayside, others have become essential mainstays in anyone s mod library.

With Skyrim Special Edition, things got a bit more complicated. Some old mods worked, some exploded, some sort of worked and then exploded – they were unpredictable. Now, though, things have calmed down. Most of the big mods have been ported over, and there are alternatives in those cases where they haven t been. Regardless of which version you have, your biggest obstacle will be setting aside the time required to sift through them all. That s where this list comes in.

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