One of the new images recently shared by Skyrim creator Bethesda putting its own twist on the trend. It has been more than a decade since the fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls series debuted, and it has continued to maintain relevance through multiple re-releases and remasters.
Many different elements in Bethesda's 2011 title have contributed to its longevity, one of which is its modding community. The game boasts one of the largest modding communities for any title on the market with creators still churning out high-quality creations, including the recently updated Skyrim multiplayer mod. The game's scale has ensured that it has endured as well, with players discovering new quests and interactions years after their first playthroughs. So beloved is Skyrim that it has also been a staple of internet memes since its release, with players still riffing on its quirks and various elements to this day.
Recently, one of those elements was brought back into the spotlight by Skyrim's skill trees are based on star signs, with different points ing together to form constellations that symbolize a corresponding skill. Skyrim's skyboxes were a highlight of its open world, and the clear images taken by the new telescope would be right at home in Tamriel.
NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021 and has recently returned with some of the clearest pictures of the universe yet. These were shared by NASA at the beginning of July, with images depicting thousands of galaxies and star systems covering a tiny portion of the night sky. Although highly detailed and an impressive discovery, many Twitter s have taken to riffing on the original image shared by NASA, replacing the original snap with pictures of retro cinema carpeting and even the original website for 1996's Space Jam. Bethesda's Skyrim post is one such example, and is proof that the game's memes will never get old.
Skyrim has a long and storied history with memes outside of this specific NASA post, and that pop-culture status is partially why players keep coming back to it. The game itself also provided just enough for players to get invested while leaving the door open for more content both official and fanmade. Subsequent contributions, mainly from the modding community, have proven to be Skyrim's lifeblood and it may be enough to keep it alive even beyond the launch of the next installment in the series, especially since Elder Scrolls 6 will be an Xbox exclusive.
Source: Bethesda/Twitter
