The Game Census
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition cover art

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

Bethesda Game Studios · Bethesda Softworks · 2016-10-27

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreEpic Games StoreAmazonMicrosoft StoreGame Pass

RPG

Franchise: The Elder Scrolls · Modes: Single player · Perspectives: First person, Third person

Releases: Oct 27, 2016 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Nov 11, 2021 (PlayStation 5), Nov 11, 2021 (Xbox Series X|S), Oct 28, 2016 (PlayStation 4), Oct 28, 2016 (Xbox One), Nov 17, 2017 (Nintendo Switch)

Winner of more than 200 Game of the Year Awards, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition brings the epic fantasy to life in stunning detail. The Special Edition includes the critically acclaimed game and add-ons with all-new features.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is a $9.99 game released in 2016, estimated to have 5,000,000 .. 10,000,000 owners, with Very Positive (92% of 373,294 reviews) in the RPG genre.

30,752
playing now
92%
positive of 381k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
5,000,000–10,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
741
twitch viewers (latest)
9.3
viewers/channel (concentration)
82/100
critic score (19 outlets, IGDB)
88/100
IGDB user rating (425 ratings)
4.74★
PlayStation Store rating (105,596 ratings)
81/100
opencritic · strong · 83% recommend · from 65 critics
180h
to beat · rushed 69h · completionist 368h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Verified
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$9.99
steam price (US)

30,752 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 17:00 UTC (census sample)

The Empire of Tamriel is on the edge. The High King of Skyrim has been murdered. Alliances form as claims to the throne are made. In the midst of this conflict, a far more dangerous, ancient evil is awakened. Dragons, long lost to the passages of the Elder Scrolls, have returned to Tamriel. The future of Skyrim, even the Empire itself, hangs in the balance as they wait for the prophesized Dragonborn to come; a hero born with the power of The Voice, and the only one who can stand amongst the dragons.(Storyline via IGDB)

Health check

Thriving
  • · 30,752 players in-game right now — a Steam top-100 title.
  • · 17,146 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~2,143/week).
  • · Review velocity down 4% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 1% of 13,848 RPG games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 9.5M–23M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 380,664 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Steam$3.99-90%
GOG$39.99
Microsoft Store$39.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $3.99 at Steam (2025-01-16) · bundled 7×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $39.99 · on sale 96 of 130 observed days · $36.00 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
5.4k5.4k20182026Week of 2018-03-01: 211 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 37 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 417 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 88 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 271 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 28 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 393 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 58 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 365 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 48 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 370 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 74 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 232 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 30 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 197 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 34 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 1,046 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 47 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 380 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 47 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 324 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 49 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 380 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 70 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 300 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 41 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 264 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 223 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 34 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 1,353 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 73 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 1,798 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 104 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 356 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 41 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 254 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 535 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 34 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 3,331 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 70 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 3,510 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 71 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 3,004 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 78 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 1,931 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 57 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 2,119 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 50 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 2,121 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 63 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 1,888 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 65 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 2,935 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 111 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 3,327 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 106 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 3,707 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 210 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 1,856 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 53 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 1,697 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 47 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 2,413 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 66 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 3,196 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 92 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 3,694 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 93 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 3,104 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 84 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 2,135 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 61 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 1,952 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 56 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 2,352 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 83 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 2,053 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 71 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 2,974 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 111 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 3,474 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 145 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 2,237 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 84 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 2,231 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 104 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 5,397 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 714 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 3,536 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 380 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 3,380 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 233 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 2,256 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 111 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 1,677 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 143 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 1,485 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 82 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 1,760 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 115 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 2,172 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 108 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 2,578 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 136 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 2,515 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 135 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 1,978 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 182 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 2,151 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 157 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 3,310 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 155 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 2,931 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 129 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 2,939 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 145 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 2,481 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 113 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 2,220 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 100 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 1,693 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 65 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 1,984 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 86 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 1,943 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 95 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 2,952 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 125 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 3,182 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 150 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 1,973 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 78 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 2,552 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 156 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 3,259 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 97 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 3,235 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 1,278 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 3,065 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 428 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 2,435 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 228 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 2,235 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 154 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 1,732 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 122 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 2,129 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 140 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 2,008 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 106 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 2,134 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 122 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 2,435 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 123 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 1,663 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 79 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 1,451 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 78 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 1,910 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 85 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 2,859 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 144 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 5,108 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 276 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 3,014 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 120 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 2,655 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 105 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 2,124 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 101 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 2,296 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 148 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 2,200 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 125 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 2,019 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 94 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 2,108 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 112 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 1,449 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 221 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 1,881 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 79 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 2,066 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 115 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 2,622 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 115 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 2,548 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 122 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 1,999 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 78 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 1,936 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 91 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 1,530 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 77 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 1,658 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 101 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 2,153 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 103 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 2,271 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 103 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 2,672 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 577 negativeWeek of 2026-09-01: 1,606 positiveWeek of 2026-09-01: 191 negativeWeek of 2026-10-01: 1,581 positiveWeek of 2026-10-01: 135 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

46k15k2026-09-14 18:00 — 28,191 players2026-09-15 18:00 — 27,314 players2026-09-16 18:00 — 26,681 players2026-09-17 18:00 — 26,281 players2026-09-18 18:00 — 26,621 players2026-09-19 18:00 — 32,034 players2026-09-20 18:00 — 36,172 players2026-09-21 18:00 — 27,786 players2026-09-22 18:00 — 27,079 players2026-09-23 18:00 — 26,002 players2026-09-24 18:00 — 25,932 players2026-09-25 18:00 — 26,374 players2026-09-26 18:00 — 32,013 players2026-09-27 18:00 — 36,461 players2026-09-28 18:00 — 28,097 players2026-09-29 18:00 — 26,812 players2026-09-30 18:00 — 25,794 players2026-10-01 18:00 — 25,817 players2026-10-02 18:00 — 30,697 players2026-10-03 18:00 — 39,052 players2026-10-04 18:00 — 45,262 players2026-10-05 18:00 — 35,839 players2026-10-06 18:00 — 35,212 players2026-10-07 18:00 — 35,068 players2026-10-08 18:00 — 35,535 players2026-10-09 18:00 — 35,350 players2026-10-10 18:00 — 41,597 players2026-10-11 18:00 — 45,589 players2026-10-12 18:00 — 39,069 players2026-10-13 18:00 — 34,095 players2026-10-14 17:00 — 30,752 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
32k1Sep 2016Aug 2026Sep 2016 — avg 1 · peak 14Jan 2017 — avg 12,180 · peak 22,528May 2017 — avg 9,062 · peak 16,427Sep 2017 — avg 10,910 · peak 23,312Jan 2018 — avg 12,217 · peak 21,459May 2018 — avg 11,034 · peak 18,427Sep 2018 — avg 9,512 · peak 17,567Jan 2019 — avg 12,586 · peak 20,884May 2019 — avg 11,625 · peak 19,843Sep 2019 — avg 10,788 · peak 18,680Jan 2020 — avg 15,992 · peak 26,377May 2020 — avg 16,765 · peak 25,892Sep 2020 — avg 15,947 · peak 24,612Jan 2021 — avg 19,620 · peak 34,631May 2021 — avg 17,034 · peak 27,567Sep 2021 — avg 19,803 · peak 32,075Jan 2022 — avg 25,445 · peak 42,340May 2022 — avg 17,272 · peak 31,156Sep 2022 — avg 18,440 · peak 32,587Jan 2023 — avg 25,855 · peak 41,990May 2023 — avg 20,188 · peak 33,013Sep 2023 — avg 17,862 · peak 28,653Jan 2024 — avg 20,087 · peak 33,418May 2024 — avg 18,109 · peak 30,262Sep 2024 — avg 19,041 · peak 30,472Jan 2025 — avg 32,154 · peak 67,482May 2025 — avg 28,447 · peak 50,490Sep 2025 — avg 17,237 · peak 27,578Jan 2026 — avg 27,866 · peak 45,904May 2026 — avg 22,060 · peak 39,516Aug 2026 — avg 26,635 · peak 44,516
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Chart history

#10#672026-09-142026-10-142026-09-14 — #612026-09-15 — #102026-09-16 — #102026-09-17 — #102026-09-18 — #602026-09-19 — #612026-09-20 — #632026-09-21 — #622026-09-22 — #602026-09-23 — #602026-09-24 — #602026-09-25 — #602026-09-26 — #672026-09-27 — #672026-09-28 — #622026-09-29 — #612026-09-30 — #612026-10-01 — #622026-10-02 — #672026-10-03 — #542026-10-04 — #512026-10-05 — #492026-10-06 — #482026-10-07 — #482026-10-08 — #492026-10-09 — #482026-10-10 — #482026-10-11 — #522026-10-12 — #532026-10-13 — #532026-10-14 — #55
Best Steam most-played rank per day (census top-100 snapshots).
PositiveNegative
3113112026-09-152026-10-142026-09-15: 57 new positive2026-09-15: 3 new negative2026-09-16: 38 new positive2026-09-16: 4 new negative2026-09-17: 48 new positive2026-09-17: 5 new negative2026-09-18: 49 new positive2026-09-18: 6 new negative2026-09-19: 56 new positive2026-09-19: 1 new negative2026-09-20: 66 new positive2026-09-20: 4 new negative2026-09-21: 76 new positive2026-09-21: 11 new negative2026-09-22: 118 new positive2026-09-22: 7 new negative2026-09-23: 58 new positive2026-09-23: 2 new negative2026-09-24: 41 new positive2026-09-24: 6 new negative2026-09-25: 44 new positive2026-09-25: 6 new negative2026-09-26: 63 new positive2026-09-26: 5 new negative2026-09-27: 55 new positive2026-09-27: 7 new negative2026-09-28: 63 new positive2026-09-28: 7 new negative2026-09-29: 76 new positive2026-09-29: 5 new negative2026-09-30: 38 new positive2026-09-30: 1 new negative2026-10-01: 62 new positive2026-10-01: 2 new negative2026-10-02: 66 new positive2026-10-02: 3 new negative2026-10-03: 111 new positive2026-10-03: 3 new negative2026-10-04: 187 new positive2026-10-04: 16 new negative2026-10-05: 193 new positive2026-10-05: 9 new negative2026-10-06: 311 new positive2026-10-06: 40 new negative2026-10-07: 161 new positive2026-10-07: 13 new negative2026-10-08: 164 new positive2026-10-08: 15 new negative2026-10-09: 142 new positive2026-10-09: 12 new negative2026-10-10: 163 new positive2026-10-10: 8 new negative2026-10-11: 171 new positive2026-10-11: 14 new negative2026-10-12: 139 new positive2026-10-12: 10 new negative2026-10-13: 98 new positive2026-10-13: 13 new negative2026-10-14: 107 new positive2026-10-14: 7 new negative
New Steam reviews per day (census review snapshots). Positive above the line, negative below.

Price history

$73.61$3.992016-06-212026-10-142016-06-21 — best price $73.612017-01-07 — best price $24.002017-06-26 — best price $39.992017-11-04 — best price $19.992018-03-23 — best price $35.992018-07-06 — best price $27.992018-09-08 — best price $33.992018-11-28 — best price $32.472019-03-25 — best price $19.992019-08-01 — best price $27.992019-12-20 — best price $19.982020-02-13 — best price $19.562020-05-28 — best price $39.992020-08-03 — best price $20.002020-09-13 — best price $39.992020-10-31 — best price $39.992021-01-17 — best price $24.992021-04-24 — best price $19.992021-08-04 — best price $35.992021-11-24 — best price $10.982022-02-11 — best price $20.002022-06-20 — best price $19.992022-09-19 — best price $11.222022-12-07 — best price $22.992023-03-12 — best price $39.992023-05-23 — best price $9.192023-08-03 — best price $8.372023-12-01 — best price $39.992024-03-04 — best price $31.492024-05-27 — best price $39.992024-08-26 — best price $39.992025-01-02 — best price $39.992025-04-03 — best price $39.992025-06-18 — best price $9.992025-10-27 — best price $39.992026-02-24 — best price $33.592026-06-01 — best price $8.992026-09-06 — best price $9.992026-10-06 — best price $3.992026-10-14 — best price $39.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Twitch viewers

3.4k1092026-09-30 18:34 — 2,168 viewers2026-10-01 03:34 — 686 viewers2026-10-01 12:34 — 271 viewers2026-10-01 21:34 — 1,292 viewers2026-10-02 06:34 — 367 viewers2026-10-02 15:34 — 693 viewers2026-10-03 00:34 — 3,232 viewers2026-10-03 09:34 — 327 viewers2026-10-03 18:34 — 1,657 viewers2026-10-04 03:34 — 806 viewers2026-10-04 12:34 — 792 viewers2026-10-04 21:34 — 2,250 viewers2026-10-05 06:34 — 343 viewers2026-10-05 15:34 — 419 viewers2026-10-06 00:34 — 705 viewers2026-10-06 09:34 — 203 viewers2026-10-06 18:34 — 2,006 viewers2026-10-07 03:34 — 448 viewers2026-10-07 12:34 — 349 viewers2026-10-07 21:34 — 1,868 viewers2026-10-08 06:34 — 437 viewers2026-10-08 15:34 — 360 viewers2026-10-09 00:34 — 787 viewers2026-10-09 09:34 — 216 viewers2026-10-09 18:34 — 1,007 viewers2026-10-10 03:34 — 623 viewers2026-10-10 12:34 — 395 viewers2026-10-10 21:34 — 1,442 viewers2026-10-11 06:34 — 390 viewers2026-10-11 15:34 — 537 viewers2026-10-12 00:34 — 1,019 viewers2026-10-12 09:34 — 179 viewers2026-10-12 18:34 — 1,569 viewers2026-10-13 03:34 — 545 viewers2026-10-13 12:34 — 371 viewers2026-10-13 21:34 — 2,134 viewers2026-10-14 06:34 — 463 viewers2026-10-14 15:34 — 295 viewers2026-10-14 17:34 — 741 viewers
Hourly Twitch viewers (census snapshots).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
72%
earned "Unbound"
15.8%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerSteam AchievementsPlayable without Timed InputSave AnytimeStereo SoundSurround SoundPartial Controller SupportSteam CloudRemote Play on PhoneRemote Play on Tablet2 DLC

8 supported languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Polish, Traditional Chinese, Russian

Post-launch support: 2 DLC released, first 2017-09-25, latest 2021-11-11 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)146,9367%75
PS4 (PlayStation)113,5486%76
Xbox One (Xbox)83,8815%75
PS5 (PlayStation)41,5157%76
Windows (Xbox)9,1149%75

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

RPGMagicActionDragonsFantasyModdableAdventureOpen WorldStory RichAtmospheric

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Recent updates

Players also track

Savage LandsBorderlands 3Citadel: Forged with FireForce of NatureGreedFallCODE VEINEternity: The Last UnicornTorchlight III

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗Reddit ↗