The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is now the seventh best selling game of all time as the constantly re-released RPG reaches 60 million sales.
Released in 2011, the fifth Elder Scrolls title was a massive evolution over its predecessor Oblivion. Creating a more casual RPG environment, the game broke records all over the world.
Now, 12 years on, and Skyrim is still selling copies every month. With a large number of remasters and re-releases, Bethesda Game Studios has an immortal sales behemoth on its hands.
In an interview with IGN to promote its massively improved Starfield RPG, game director Todd Howard revealed that Skyrim has sold more than many assumed. While everyone knew the game had sold extremely well, exact numbers were not revealed.
“We’re sitting here, 12 years after Skyrim, we're looking at a game that has [sold] over 60 million copies,” Howard revealed.
Skyrim’s 60 million copies is a monumental milestone for any video game. At the time of writing, the Bethesda RPG has sold more copies than Pokémon Red, Blue and Green combined and even more than the original Super Mario Bros.
Of course, there are still games that have sold more copies than Skyrim has. For example, battle royale monolith PUBG has sold 75 million, Wii Sports sold 83 million, GTA V has sold 180 million and the juggernaut that is Minecraft has sold 240 million.
Since its 2011 launch, Skyrim has launched on an entirely new generation of consoles, Nintendo Switch and has seen two re-releases on PC. The game also has an Alexa spin-off version that works in the same vein as a text adventure title.
Over the past 12 years, Skyrim has become a cultural touchstone for gamers everywhere, and it’s a game still has 20,000 concurrent players on Steam alone at any given time. It’s currently an unkillable game.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim pushed the series more into the casual gamer’s mind than any other game in the series before it. While Morrowind was popular, and Oblivion even more so, they were not suited for the casual gameplay that attracted millions to the frosty tundra of Tamriel’s north.
We’re still years away from any hint of The Elder Scrolls VI being in our hands, but Skyrim still has its players, and will continue to have players for decades to come.