To no one's great surprise, Bethesda is re-releasing Skyrim yet again with the Skyrim will become better than ever to celebrate. This new version includes over 500 Creation Club elements, pre-loaded into the game to boost Skyrim's already impressive amount of content. While this upgrade is enticing, the inclusion of Creation Club mods is a bit strange, representing a half step above Skyrim Special Edition, which should also have access to the mods.
Bethesda's Creation Club is a bit hard to define, existing in a strange space between mods and content. At its core, it is essentially just a curated list of mods for Skyrim Special Edition and Fallout 4 that have been given the Bethesda seal of approval. All the mods listed in Creation Club are compatible with not only the base games, but all other Creation Club content as well. The Creation Club allows PC players to easily find mods that have been proven to work well, and also gives console players the rare opportunity to use mods at all - albeit not for free.
Theoretically, Skyrim Anniversary Edition could be recreated in the Special Edition, though it may be a bit pricey. Bethesda hasn't yet provided a comprehensive list of which Creation Club mods combine to make the 500+ inclusions (this in itself is confusing, as the "elements" included seem far more numerous than the actual number of Creations available), but the Creation Club requires credits in exchange for content. This is, of course, ignoring the possibility that Bethesda has made some Creation Club mods exclusive to the Anniversary Edition. Though that is a possibility, the idea seems antithetical to the Creation Club's existence as a -friendly means to mods. More likely is that Skyrim Anniversary Edition's 10 year upgrade was an easy way for Bethesda to boost Skyrim's amount of content and save players from the hassle of tracking down (and then paying for) dozens of Creation Club mods.
Is The Anniversary Edition Upgrade Necessary?
Right now it's hard to say whether or not the Skyrim Anniversary Edition is a necessary upgrade for those that already have the Special Edition. The included package of Creation Club elements might be conveniently cheap, but it doesn't seem as though any further overhauls are planned. The Special Edition already made some improvements to graphics and lighting, but the Anniversary Edition is still releasing on last-gen consoles, making it seem as though there won't be any further upgrades beyond that. Load times might see an improvement for those with an Xbox Series X/S or a PlayStation 5, but the Special Edition is already playable through backward compatibility.
Die-hard Skyrim fans might want to get the Anniversary Edition just to have the most definitive version, which will now include fishing mechanics for the first time in Skyrim, but until more details come to light, the included Creation Club content will likely be what sways potential buyers. Skyrim Anniversary Edition will include all three expansion packs for the game, which could attract those who missed them originally, but theoretically, the Special Edition combined with some due diligence in the Creation Club store could produce the same product, even if it might not be as cost-effective.
