The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim has been played and replayed by Bethesda fans countless times. It’s undoubtedly one of the most memorable single-player games of the past decade. And its avid modding community has only served to bolster its replayability, paving the way for some of the best unofficial add-ons to a Bethesda game.
This month, however, the modding community hit a unique milestone. The team behind Skyrim Together Reborn has finally released the mod to the gaming public, and players are more than happy with the results. The rehashed Skyrim multiplayer mod is enticing players to return to Tamriel long before The Elder Scrolls 6 is even set to release.
A Brief and Rather Turbulent History of Skyrim Together
The team behind the Skyrim multiplayer mod first started posting updates around 2018. This included UI updates and bug fixes. There were even livestreams showcasing what the game would look like with the multiplayer mod. Then, in January of 2019, the modding team announced a closed beta, which was immediately followed by an open beta for Skyrim Together.
Unfortunately, the team soon came under fire after one of the lead developers made a comment on Reddit, claiming that the modders behind Skyrim Together didn’t “owe the community anything.” What's more, it was revealed that the team was making use of code by Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE), a longstanding Skyrim modding tool that extends the game’s scripting capabilities and adds other functionalities.
By 2020, the team seemed to fix the issues surrounding Skyrim Together’s coding and even made the entire codebase an open-source repository. It was even revealed that the team was working on another mod — Fallout Together, which allowed for multiplayer sessions on Fallout 4. Following this, the team was quiet for some time, save for a few minor updates. However, in July of 2022, the modding team revealed the official release date of Skyrim Together Reborn.
The Release of Skyrim Together Reborn
On July 8, 2022, Skyrim Together Reborn was published on Nexus mods. The Skyrim multiplayer mod got over 50,000 downloads on the first day of its release, easily climbing the list of the top mods of July. Gaming outlets and Skyrim content creators have also made sure to share the news, emphasizing how well the mod works in practice, especially compared to its predecessor. Suffice to say, Skyrim Together Reborn is a hit.
Skyrim Together Reborn mainly works on Skyrim Special Edition version 1.6, though it also works with the Skyrim Anniversary Upgrade. The multiplayer mod even supports other mods. An exact list of these mods is not yet available, but there’s a list on the team’s GitHub where players can upvote the mods that work. That said, the team has stressed that players in the same server must have the exact same mods arranged in the same load order for things to work.
Skyrim Together Reborn is by no means a perfect multiplayer experience. The team has told players to expect crashes, bugs, and broken quests — and these are, indeed, unavoidable. Some people have had to fend off enemies that their teammates couldn’t see on their screen, while others have had to deal with constant crashing. Even with all that, however, this mod is no doubt the best Skyrim multiplayer out there. It’s leaps and bounds better than the original Skyrim Together mod and, hopefully, has no more of the controversies attached.
What Skyrim Together Reborn Does Great
Skyrim Together Reborn has reawakened a lot of players’ love for the 2011 title. Letting people play a familiar game with their friends not only adds to the experience but makes a new one altogether. Having other players to experience Skyrim with allows for more specialization. One player could focus on archery and sneak, while another could act as the “tank” type fighter. Meanwhile, another player could focus on healing and conjuration spells to offer support from the sidelines.
The fact that loot is shared also means players will have to talk about dividing found weapons and armor. That said, the amount of loot in each chest or reward has been adjusted to fit the number of players in a team. But even then, it could make for some interesting situations. Fans should be prepared to debate who should get the enchanted weapon only for another player to pickpocket it off the person who got it. Alternatively, a player could sneak ahead of the team to check a chest in advance and nab the items they want. It adds a new layer to the gameplay, making Skyrim feel like a new game.
The modding team even found a way to streamline quest progression. Every group of players has an assigned party leader, and it’s their job to speak to NPCs to further the quest. Skyrim NPCs can speak to other players in the team accidentally, but they have to be directed to the party leader for the quest to progress. This prevents any clunky mismatches in quest progression and players won’t have to hear the same dialogue constantly.
All in all, Skyrim Together Reborn is the co-op campaign game that countless Bethesda fans have been asking for. The Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76 provide online multiplayer experiences, but these don’t really come close to the freedom, exploration, and quest quality of their offline, single-player counterparts, particularly Skyrim. That’s the gap that the Skyrim multiplayer mod bridges for the community. Look no further than the thousands of players experiencing Skyrim with their friends and the newly uploaded playthroughs by content creators for evidence of that.
Even though The Elder Scrolls 6 is still a long way away, fans will have plenty to do with Skyrim multiplayer as well as the countless new mods being released. Chances are the Skyrim community will die down once the next installment is released, but until then, the iconic title is going to continue to stay relevant, and innovative mods like Skyrim Together Reborn are to thank for that.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.