if you’re just now joining us, here’s a recap: Skyrim Special Edition was announced for consoles and the PC. Then the surprise announcement was made that the XBox One version would support mods, just like the PC version does. All heads then shifted to Sony to see how they’d react, and at first the answer was “no, no mods.”
But after a few negotiations behind closed doors, that decision was reversed and Sony announced mods WOULD be possible on the PS4 version. And there was much rejoicing!
Then the game came out.
Since Skyrim’s release on Friday, players have discovered the number of existing mods that work with PS4 is significantly smaller than the number on the other two platforms. It’s estimated that only one third of the mods available for Skyrim will function on PS4, and it’s not the kind of thing that can be fixed with an update: Sony has only allowed 1 gig of mod space on the PS4 hard drive. The XBox One allows 5 GB…..and the ability to import external assets that weren’t part of the original game code, such as new models, sound effects and textures. This is what makes mods fun, and Sony won’t allow it.
It’s now clear Sony only okayed the use of mods in Skyrim under the weakest of circumstances, and Bethesda shook their hand because there wasn’t much time left and being able to brag about having any mods at all would be good for sales. But as word spreads about this disability, Sony may wish they had been as lenient as their competition.
If you’re not a mod person this may not affect you. The PS4 version of Skyrim Special Edition is still very strong visually, runs at a good framerate and has non-corrupted sound. But if you like mods, we can’t recommend it at this time.