As gaming enthusiasts have transitioned into purchasing the newest generation of consoles, questions regarding which trophies and achievements will carry over between cross-generational games have been asked with each cross-gen release. Unfortunately for PlayStation owners, Skyrim: Anniversary Edition won't allow players to carry their trophies across from Skyrim: Special Edition save files.
According to an FAQ blog post about Skyrim: Anniversary Edition on The Elder Scrolls' website, achievements will carry over from Skyrim Special Edition on PC and Xbox consoles, but won't transfer for anyone who's upgraded from PS4 to PS5. This is a big disappointment for trophy hunters hoping that the game would give them a free trophy or two right when they launch the application on their PS5s.
Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot of consistency when it comes to trophies that carry over between last-gen and current-gen titles, with some having every trophy pop when the current-gen version of a game is started and others, like Skyrim: Anniversary Edition, require players to unlock them all over again. Skyrim isn't in an unheard-of position in that regard, but the fact that trophies will carry over between other editions of the game raises some eyebrows.
This seems to suggest to some players that Skyrim: Anniversary Edition won't allow players to transfer their save data from PS4 to PS5. Anyone updating the game to its current-generation version won't lose their save files, but it seems like that might not be the case for anyone looking to purchase the anniversary edition of the game. The official support website for Bethesda says in an entry last updated in April that "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim does not support cross-save for any platform," but it's unclear if that's referring to the current-gen version of Skryim: Anniversary Edition. Bethesda hasn't officially stated how cross saves and save transfers work at this time.
Alongside clarifying the trophy/achievement issue, the FAQ blog post also officially announced the price for Skyrim: Anniversary Edition. The game will cost $49.99 when it launches next week, but existing owners of Skyrim: Special Edition can purchase it for $19.99.
All current owners of the Special Edition will get the current-gen upgrade for free, but the new Creation Club content isn't included in the free upgrade. Bethesda also hasn't said if Skryim: Anniversary Edition will include new trophies for the additional content, but, given their fan-created nature, many doubt that they'll be given specific trophies.
Skyrim: Anniversary Edition launches on November 11 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.