Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim uses Steamworks on PC

The PC edition of Skyrim will use Steamworks, Bethesda has confirmed. It was to be expected, really, as the last few games it published have used Valve's Steam-based tools.

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It's perhaps no surprise to hear confirmation that the PC edition of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will use Steamworks, as Bethesda Softworks has used Valve's Steam-based tools for its last few releases. Now, how you feel about that announcement, that's up to you.

"We can confirm today that we're using Steamworks for Skyrim," the official Elder Scrolls Twitter account said today. And that's all we know for now. Presumably specifics will dribble out later, when Bethesda can find a quiet moment in all the Gamescom hustle and bustle.

What this means for you is that no matter where you buy Skryim, whether at retail or via digital distribution, you'll have to activate it on a Steam account. Once it's activated, you'll have no need for the CD, and Steam's offline mode should let you play happily without being connected to the Internet. Unless you're one of the unfortunate few who has trouble with offline mode, that is.

Fallout: New Vegas, the most comparable of Bethesda's Steamworks-powered games, uses Steamworks for auto-patching, achievements, and, of course, DRM. New Vegas also initially offered cloud storage for saved games, but that was disabled due to bugs. Here's hoping it returns, as where better for the cloud than somewhere named Skyrim?

From The Chatty
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    August 17, 2011 11:15 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim uses Steamworks on PC.

    The PC edition of Skyrim will use Steamworks, Bethesda has confirmed. It was to be expected, really, as the last few games it published have used Valve's Steam-based tools.

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      August 17, 2011 11:22 AM

      Yesss, so my Newegg retail pre-order for $47.99 was not in vain for Steam.

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      August 17, 2011 11:26 AM

      awesome news!

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      August 17, 2011 11:28 AM

      Cool

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      August 17, 2011 11:31 AM

      Sweet. Bring on the deals!

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      August 17, 2011 12:08 PM

      Nice,

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      August 17, 2011 12:59 PM

      I suspect greenman gaming will have this discounted to 34.99 relatively soon for a pre-order incentive.

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        August 17, 2011 1:17 PM

        Yeah i'm really starting to love green man gaming.

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        August 17, 2011 1:25 PM

        If they do, I'm gonna buy the shit out of this game.

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        August 17, 2011 2:19 PM

        That's actually a great tip. Can somebody send me a friend referral? According to the site we both get 5 bucks credit when I then proceed to buy something.

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          August 17, 2011 3:04 PM

          i'd like one too.

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          August 17, 2011 3:31 PM

          Well shit, why not make a new account and refer yourself every time you buy a new Steamworks game from GMG then???

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          August 17, 2011 3:54 PM

          I can do that!

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      August 17, 2011 2:21 PM

      Can I still buy the GOTY next year if I already have the base game installed?

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      August 17, 2011 2:41 PM

      I want the game on Steam, so this is great.

      Does anyone know how Steam's auto update feature reacts when mods are installed? Will it automatically replace modded files when new patches are released or anything like that? I assume it won't, but I don't really know much about it.

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        August 17, 2011 3:08 PM

        Mods for these games are usually in separate data files or in the full path / extracted directories, patches probably won't overwrite that stuff, just the base game files and archives.

        I'd keep the important ones backed up just in case.

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      August 18, 2011 10:59 AM

      Shit. Might rethink purchase now.

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