The big picture: Bethesda showed it was possible for a company to poke fun at itself without coming across as cringy. At its E3 press event, the gaming giant showed off Skyrim: Very Special Edition, a version of the much-loved RPG made for Amazon's smart assistant, Alexa. Most assumed that the short video was a joke, but it appears that Skyrim: VSE is a real skill that's available for free right now from the Amazon store.
The E3 clip appeared to be laughing at the number of remasters and ported versions of Skyrim that have arrived since the game's launch. The fact it stars comedian Keegan-Michael Key also suggests it's not to be taken seriously.
Not long after the show finished, however, a product page for Skyrim: Very Special Edition appeared on Amazon's store. It looked as if Bethesda was going all-in on the joke, but the voice-controlled edition of the seven-year-old game is playable.
While it's still a scaled-down version of Skyrim, the game offers an experience akin to the text-based MUD and tabletop role-playing games of yesteryear. The page promises quests, dungeons, spells, and shouts. It also advises players to guard their knees against arrows, boasts the ability to walk straight up a mountain instead of going around, and confirms the strong likelihood of mead. No word yet if we can expect to see an Etch-a-Sketch or smart fridge version of the game.
Check out PC gamer getting angry at the game/Alexa in the video below.
Bethesda also announced The Elder Scrolls: Blades, a first-person RPG for Android and iOS that features console-quality graphics. There was new DLC for the Elder Scrolls Online, too, and confirmation that the Elder Scrolls VI is in the works.