There is a long-running meme in The Elder Scrolls community that Bethesda wants to release Skyrim on every platform possible. It was originally released on the seventh generation of consoles, but it has found its way to the eighth and ninth generation of consoles thanks to the Special and Anniversary Editions, respectively.

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While you can't play Skyrim on your microwave just yet, there are a variety of platforms you can experience this RPG sensation on. Each platform gives a surprisingly different experience as well, ranging from better or significantly worse than Bethesda intended. From home consoles to portable devices, here is every Skyrim port ranked from worst to best.

Updated November 21st, 2021, by Charles Burgar: The more things change, the more they stay the same. It's been a decade since Skyrim took the RPG landscape by storm. Two new generations of consoles have been released, a new Half-Life game released during that window, yet people still play Skyrim to this day. Most of that is due to the passionate modding community, but the myriad of ports Bethesda has made are partly to blame as well. We've updated this list to include the recently-released Anniversary Edition for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. We also reranked a few entries that we felt didn't get enough credit for how good (or bad) they truly were.

10 Skyrim: Very Special Edition (Amazon Alexa)

Yes, you read that correctly. This is a real port that Bethesda created for all Alexa products at E3 2018. Because there is no visual component in this version, everything is delivered through Alexa describing what is occurring.

While the Very Special Edition is clearly a joke, this is a playable version of Skyrim anyone with an Alexa can try. The fun comes from Bethesda making fun of themselves through silly dialogue. Alexa might describe a physics bug and ask if you want to submit it to Reddit, or you might find yourself in a pinch mid-fight and need to heal yourself with 500 cheese wheels. It offers none of the fun that Skyrim provides, but it is a fun gag that fans and Bethesda alike can laugh at. That fun does wear fast, however, making this game a novelty rather than an actual RPG to enjoy.

9 Skyrim (PlayStation 3)

Skyrim on the PlayStation 3 is notorious for the number of issues it had during its lifecycle. Some of the issues this version had were so extreme that it made the game nigh unplayable.

The most notorious issue was the common save corruption that would occur if your save file exceeded 6MB of space, something that occurred regularly if your playthrough lasted more than 20 hours. DLC for the PS3 was also delayed for months, way past its debut on other platforms. PS3 players absolutely got the short end of the stick for Skyrim ports with this version.

8 Skyrim (Xbox 360)

The Xbox 360 version of Skyrim was overall much better than the PlayStation version. It ran at a more consistent framerate and had significantly fewer issues.

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What made the Xbox version stand out from even the PC version, however, is the inclusion of Kinect commands. In a title update for Skyrim, Bethesda added over 200 commands that players could say to their Kinect to do something. This could range from opening doors to changing spells without having to touch an input device or menu. Besides that, the port ran at a stable 30 frames per second (FPS) for most encounters, only dropping when many physics objects were being manipulated at once. If you had to play Skyrim on a console, this was the best way to do it for a long time.

7 Skyrim: Special Edition (PlayStation 4)

Sony can't get away from Bethesda's bugs, no matter the platform. Skyrim: Special Edition released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC platforms to remaster the visuals and add new content.

The two largest iterations to this version were the inclusion of mod support and the Creation Club, Bethesda's way of paying modders to create curated content reviewed by Bethesda themselves for users to enjoy. There is just one problem: custom-made content was not allowed on the PlayStation 4 version due to concerns Sony had with console security and safety. Because of this, only an infinitesimally small number of mods are available on this platform, seriously limiting the potential fun players could have on this version. At least the save issues from the older version have been fixed this time.

6 Skyrim: Special Edition (Xbox One)

Unlike the PlayStation 4 version, the Xbox One port of Skyrim: Special Edition allowed users to download and use mods that included custom assets in them, significantly increasing the number of mods available.

Besides the ability to mod on consoles, the visual improvements for this version are fantastic for outdoor environments. Seeing the sunset in Skyrim has never looked so good on a console before. Those on PC are used to this already thanks to ENBs and visual mods, but it's awesome that console players can get the same experience now. As for performance, it runs as you'd expect. 1080p 30fps is nothing outstanding but it sure beats the muddy look of the original.

5 Skyrim (PC)

Out of every vanilla Skyrim port on the market, the PC version was the best. There is no debate. It ran at a higher framerate, looked better, and had mod support.

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Compared to the likes of Oblivion and Morrowind, Skyrim had far fewer issues with stability and overall performance. The game had its fair share of bugs and issues, but fans of the game could create mods using the Creation Kit to fix nearly everything wrong with it. Adding to this, a script extender was created by the community, which allowed for an exponential amount of additional features to be incorporated into mods and player's games. When you also consider that the game could run at higher framerates and resolutions on most PCs, it's easy to see why this port of Skyrim was so beloved.

4 Skyrim: Special Edition (Nintendo Switch)

The Nintendo Switch has the unique advantage of being both a portable device and a home console to game on. These advantages are used to their fullest potential with the Switch's port of Skyrim: Special Edition.

Switching from docked to portable is easy and runs well in both. Text is squished somewhat when not docked, but it runs surprisingly well considering how massive Skyrim is as a game. It can even support mods and motion controls. The few negatives this port has, such as the aforementioned text and compressed audio, are insignificant with just how fun it is to play on your Switch device. It's a proper port that works very well.

3 Skyrim: Anniversary Edition (Xbox Series X|S And PlayStation 5)

To celebrate Skyrim's tenth anniversary, Bethesda released a DLC of sorts that includes all Creation Club content released up to November 2021. Players who already own the Special Edition of Skyrim received a free update that included four Creation Club mods for free—one of which added fishing to Skyrim. Special Edition owners on PC could also purchase the contents of the Anniversary Pack for $20. Unlike the Special Edition, the Anniversary Edition did not remaster any content; it is effectively a Creation Club DLC bundle.

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With that said, the Anniversary Edition is technically a Skyrim: Special Edition port for the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 consoles. The port itself is impressive, allowing these consoles to run Skyrim SE at 4K 120 FPS, although users will experience physics bugs when above 60 FPS. Excluding mods, this is the first time consoles have been able to run Skyrim above 30 FPS. PlayStation users are still unable to install mods with user-created assets, making the Xbox Series X|S and PC ports the definitive versions when modding is considered.

As for the added content, its quality is mixed. Most agree that the alternate armor and weapon packs fit right in with Skyrim's vanilla offerings, yet the Creation Club's quest mods all lack voice acting. This can make these new additions jarring to play through, even if the rest of the creation matches Skyrim's quality.

2 Skyrim VR

Attacking a massive dragon with a sword and shield is one thing on a console or PC, but doing so in VR is a much more intense experience than it has any right to be.

Controls in VR are based on your motion rather than button inputs. You just equip an item in one of your hands to dual-wield it or combine both of your hands to use dual-casted spells. Blocking requires you to physically move your arm up, making every fight have a sense of investment and tension completely absent in every other version. You can even mod Skyrim VR. Playing a game like this requires a large time commitment, something that doesn't gel well with wearing a VR headset and standing up for long periods. The short sessions you can have here are incredible, translating the Elder Scrolls formula on VR superbly.

1 Skyrim: Special Edition (PC)

Many PC fans were skeptical that this remaster of Skyrim would be a complete cash grab, selling users an unrefined version of what was already possible on PC thanks to the passionate modding community.

Fortunately, Bethesda did the noble thing and gave Skyrim: Special Edition out for free to anyone who had both the base game and all of its DLCs, which is most of the community. Mods that didn't require a script extender mostly worked out of the box for this version, but the lack of a script extender significantly hurt the modding scene for the first few years.

Those years have passed. Skyrim SE on PC is now the definitive means of playing Skyrim, both for casual players and modding enthusiasts. The modding community has transformed Skyrim over recent years, adding DLC-sized lands and overhauled combat into the game. The scope of these changes is mostly thanks to the Special Edition's shift to 64-bit architecture and the PC's ability to use script extenders—something consoles are currently unable to use. Memory limits are practically gone, crashes are much less frequent, and the ceiling for what modders can do is much higher than before. You'll have a hard time finding a better version of Skyrim than the Special Edition port for PC.

Next: Skyrim: Best Weapons And Armor Mods So Far