Today Nintendo made the surprise announcement that last year’s Skyrim Anniversary Edition has been released on the Switch. Depending on what you are willing to count as a separate release this is somewhere between the seventh distinct version of the game released or the 17th port – including two versions on PS3 and Xbox 360, two versions on PS4 and Xbox One, two different VR versions, a previous Switch port, three PC releases, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions, and of course Skyrim Very Special Edition for Amazon Alexa.While other consoles and PC received this update and the option to buy this Anniversary Edition in November of last year, it is only arriving on Nintendo’s platform now. Until today the Special Edition that was released in 2017 was the only version purchasable on Switch. It included all the content from the PS4 and Xbox One versions and also came with exclusive Nintendo-themed items and Amiibo support.The Anniversary Edition comes with the three paid DLCs bundled with the previous version; Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn, and a slew of upgrades and bonuses. These include several pieces of Bethesda Creation Club console mods worked into the base game for “free”, Creation Club Credits to purchase some community mods of your choosing, a survival mode and a Bethesda-developed fishing mini-game.
Somewhat amusingly, it has gotten to the point that even Nintendo is struggling to keep track of all these versions and content. If you click through the announcement tweet on Nintendo Europe’s account it will currently take you to the store page for the Special Edition’s page, which is being sold for £49.99. To purchase the actual newly released version you will have to click on the Anniversary Edition Bundle at the side of the store page which costs £59.99 and comes with all the new content.