Skyrim Anniversary Edition could end up seriously damaging the game’s mod scene

The upcoming release of Skyrim’s Anniversary Edition could end up damaging the game’s modding scene, and will likely mean a considerable amount of work for modders in the game.

If you’ve been adding mods to your version of Skyrim over the years, chances are you’ve come across the Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) plugin, which is used to help run a number of different popular mods for the game. . . You have also likely adjusted your update settings for the game on Steam and used a separate mod manager to launch the game. If you don’t, there is a risk that the SKSE will break every time the Bethesda Creation Club receives a new update.

As reported by Pc gamerWhen Skyrim’s Anniversary Edition launches next month, player-purchased copies will not only include the Special Edition version of the game, but also all of the mods currently included in the Creation Club and more. However, unlike previous iterations of Skyrim that have arrived as new releases, Skyrim’s Anniversary Edition will come as an update to the existing game, a factor that is likely to cause major problems for a variety of mods currently using SKSE and others like it. accessories.

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The main reason this is an issue is that, as part of their update, Bethesda has made the decision to change the game compiler from Visual Studios 2015 release to its 2019 counterpart. Developer SKSE, extrwi notes, this will cause problems for the modding community because it “changes the way code is generated in a way that forces mod developers to start from scratch looking for features and writing hooks.”

Skyrim’s modding community has been pretty amazing in recent years, but in that time several modders have moved on to new projects. The upshot is that once a popular mod breaks, no one may be able to fix it. “Doing this job requires a reasonable amount of time for each plug-in,” explains extrwi.

“I can probably sit there for a few nights and put out an updated version of SKSE, but my main concern is the rest of the plugins out there. The plugin ecosystem has been around long enough for people to move on, and the code is maintenance-free. Sure enough, everyone who has written a native code plugin will need to do at least a certain amount of work to support AE. This realistically means that the native code mod scene will be interrupted for an unknown period of time afterwards. from AE’s release. “

The developer recommended that those using in-game mods should back up their game executables now and disable updates on Steam before the Anniversary Edition release on November 11.

To learn more from the Skyrim modding community, be sure to check out our interview with the modders behind the Skyrim mod aiming to make the Oblivion Bethesda version fail in 2006.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow it on Twitter.