One of the things that has probably kept The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim going strong for almost a decade is the sheer number of mods for the game, which do all manner of things from tweaking the visuals, to adding new missions, to incorporating aspects from other franchises. While there is a dedicated fan community which pumps out a lot of these mods, in 2017 Bethesda unveiled the Creations Club, which features mods officially approved by the studio. Now with the Anniversary Edition of the game due out soon, there may be some concerns about how it could have an effect on mod compatibility.
According to a report, which cites a post from Reddit, the upcoming new edition of Skyrim could be "disruptive to the modding scene" when it's released. The initial concern comes from the developer of the Skyrim Script Extender, or SKSE, which is a major plugin used by many mods which adds functionality and expands scripting capabilities, hence the name. Their issue is that Bethesda will be updating the compiler used to build the game from Visual Studio 2015, to Visual Studio 2019, which will likely mean that many mod authors will have to "start from scratch."
With so many awesome Skyrim mods, this could spell disaster for those who not only make add-ons, but play them as well. The SKSE developer goes on in their original post to advise people to back up data files just in case. They also say that the reason for the change to Visual Studio 2019 is to comply with the Xbox Live libraries, which are only compatible with 2017 and beyond. Many in the comments have added their own concerns about this, with one person saying that a wave of "help" posts will likely flood the subReddit not long after the Anniversary Edition gets released.
The Skyrim Anniversary Edition was announced back in August and will be made available for PC, as well previous gen and next gen consoles. It will come loaded with additional content, including 500 Creation Club mods, a survival mode that makes the game more realistic similar to the Fallout games, as well as the option to fish.
The news about how mods may become incompatible with this version will likely upset a lot of people who depend on mods for extensive gameplay, as well those who will have to rework their add-ons. The Skyrim Anniversary Edition will give fans a chance to relive some epic moments, but if the plentiful mods that are out there do not work, that could have a serious impact on player's enjoyment.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim: Anniversary Edition is set to launch on November 11, 2021, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: DSO Gaming