Roman GłogulskiThe highly popular game, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition, is set to receive a new update that has raised concerns among players about potential mod-breaking. Fans worry that, like previous updates, this one may disrupt many of the mods they have installed, leading to frustration and inconvenience.
Skyrim – Special Edition is currently the most favored game among modders, with over 3.7 billion mod downloads from Nexus alone. However, studio Bethesda has a track record of unintentionally breaking mods with their updates, making the process of creating and installing modifications more complicated.
In a previous update in December, Bethesda introduced the Creations platform, a system for distributing paid mods. This move caused controversy and resulted in the breaking of some mods. Now, with another major patch announced, players are once again worried.
The Reddit community has been advising others to disable automatic game updates in the Steam client as a precautionary measure to avoid unknowingly installing patches that could break mods. They also suggest launching Skyrim – Special Edition through the Script Extender instead of Steam. If users prefer, they can make the game’s manifest file (“appmanifest_489830.acf” for Skyrim – Special Edition) read-only by right-clicking on the file, accessing Properties, and selecting the “Read-only” option. This will prevent any further updates from occurring.
While popular mods are usually updated quickly to ensure compatibility with the latest game versions, some older but essential projects are no longer actively supported. This makes blocking official Steam updates necessary to safeguard the mods.
The upcoming update focuses on addressing various issues with the Creations store and is expected to release this week. However, alongside concerns about mod-breaking, the emphasis on paid modifications has sparked controversy. Many players are worried that a similar system will be implemented for Bethesda’s upcoming game, Starfield.
It is worth mentioning that some players argue that recent updates to Skyrim – Special Edition do not bring any significant improvements to the game itself. This makes it harder to accept the risk of breaking mods with each new patch. Some fans are even requesting that Bethesda halt future updates to provide some respite to Skyrim and its modding community.
By taking the necessary precautions to safeguard mods, players can continue to enjoy the richly customized experience that has made Skyrim – Special Edition so beloved within the gaming community.
