Skyrim on Switch 2 shows fans are sick of buggy, basic Bethesda ports

Despite its hit RPGs, Bethesda is burning the goodwill earned by those games, fans say

Skyrim releasing on any and all hardware imaginable is a neverending gaming meme, so no one was surprised when Bethesda announced that the classic RPG was being ported to Switch 2. The folks who decided they absolutely needed to hear "You're finally awake" for a millionth time have quickly discovered that there's something deeply wrong with the latest Skyrim version — and it's fueling discussion about the way Bethesda approaches its constant re-releases.

The most glaring issue on the Switch 2 version of Skyrim is the input lag, with the game taking about a quarter of a second to interpret the buttons players press. Though this discrepancy might sound small, a delay like this makes a big difference in an action-oriented game like Skyrim where players expect fluid, responsive combat. It's bad enough that fans are calling Skyrim on Switch 2 "borderline unplayable" and vowing to not play it until it gets patched. "It’s atrocious how delayed the movement is," one Redditor commented on a video showcasing the delay.

Discussions about Skyrim on Switch 2 are full of disappointment more generally. Fans have caught on to Bethesda's tactic of periodically porting or re-releasing its popular games, even on platforms where the game is already playable, as was the case for Skyrim: Anniversary Edition. Typically, developers try and entice fans to re-purchase a game by adding more bells and whistles, like new features or improved performance. Technically, the Switch 2 version of Skyrim fulfills this expectation by coming packed with DLC, Creation Club mods, and exclusive Legend of Zelda items. It also helps that Bethesda makes the Switch 2 port free for anyone who already owns Anniversary Edition on Switch. As fans recall, that re-release also added new things like fishing.

But the more Bethesda dips back into its Skyrim well, the more fans expect. On Switch 2 specifically, top-notch ports like Cyberpunk 2077 and Star Wars: Outlaws have garnered positive attention, meaning basic ports stand out all the more. The frustration is also rooted in the knowledge that Bethesda games are notoriously buggy to begin with, so every re-release that opts out of fixing longstanding issues starts to feel egregious. To some extent, the things players expect are framed as standard practice for good ports. Players can't help but fixate on a 2025 version of Skyrim that still runs at 30 frames per second, especially when a major Switch 2 selling point is its increased power.

"I won't even speak about the 30fps for a 2011 game in 2025 on a console capable of running Cyberpunk at 40 [FPS]," another Reddit thread titled "Skyrim Switch 2 is terrible" opined. "I'll just say that the frame pacing is not even stable."

Bethesda is hardly alone when it comes to providing basic ports that do not address non-critical issues. But the famed RPG maker has also found itself in a long streak of whiffs that have eroded fan goodwill. Starfield failed to justify even a fraction of the hype behind the game. And more recently, Bethesda released a contentious Anniversary Edition of Fallout 4. Like Skyrim on Switch 2, the new version of Fallout 4 comes with all the expansions and additions like Creation Club. But the PC version of this Fallout 4 port also made the game unplayable for people who downloaded mods — presumably a large contingent of the PC userbase. Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition was also reportedly plagued with performance issues more generally, like crashes and texture failures. Worse, some fans report that the bells and whistles that make Anniversary Edition unique didn't even work at launch. The latest version did fix some problems with Fallout 4, like an issue with VATS that was present in the game for an entire decade. But fans were baffled at the new Fallout's hiccups after seeing how Bethesda successfully updated the game to new hardware without breaking the entire thing.

In the age of updates and live service, it's possible that Bethesda will fix the technical incompetence of its Switch 2 port. And for all the jokes, having a new version of Fallout 4 is a smart move in the wake of Amazon's popular TV show. With the muted response to Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 still in early development, the company might also need more sources of revenue. What the company cannot undo, however, is the negative reputation it has earned after repeatedly re-selling versions of a game few people are asking for, in states that arguably do not justify the price tag.

"I remember when they were a do-no-wrong internet darling for a while," writes one commenter on the aforementioned negative Reddit thread. "Completely burned all consumer goodwill."