Skyrim Dawnguard

After fooling the community with a carefully chosen Dishonored game screenshot, along with today's release of the Kinect voice update for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Bethesda promised that they'd share official details on its first DLC/expansion pack.

In March, Bethesda was spotted trademarking the name "Dawnguard," sparking DLC rumors and speculation. Today, that speculation is justified as Skyrim's first batch of added content is in fact, Dawnguard.

In a somewhat underwhelming unveiling, Bethesda added an image to their official blog today with little context or additional information. It's a beautiful piece of artwork featuring Skyrim's Nord protagonist sporting the game's iconic horned helm, staring with glowing eyes and sporting a quiver of arrows on his back. The full image (shown below) came attached only with the text "Coming this summer to Xbox 360. More details at E3."

Note that the announcement only references the Xbox 360 version and not the mod-boosted PC version or the plagued-with-lag-at-first PS3 version. This is due to the exclusivity deal Bethesda signed with Microsoft and announced last year at E3 where the first two Skyrim DLC packs will arrive on the Xbox 360 first with a 30-day headstart.

While the image isn't too revealing, what we can say is that Dawnguard will be more than the standard DLC fare. It's been emphasized all along by game director Todd Howard that the DLC for Skyrim would be "substantial" and more like full expansions as opposed to smaller, piecemeal additions.

What we also know is that Dawnguard is only the first of several content additions to the game. If it's taking this long to get Dawnguard out (half a year), how long until further expansions? More details will be unveiled at E3 and it'll likely be a part of the Xbox 360 presentation thanks to the exclusivity, but we wonder if additional DLC will be teased as well since Dawnguard releases in the summer.

As for what Dawnguard is about, leaked info pointed towards it including Snow Elves and bringing back Crossbows, and its title could be referring to the Mythic Dawn cult faction featured heavily in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The Mythic Dawn follow Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric prince of destruction and such a storyline could potentially see players return to the lands of Cyrodiil, which we know are hidden away in the background of Skyrim since it's a neighboring province of Tamriel.

What do you want Dawnguard to add to Skyrim?

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is available for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

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Source: Bethesda