Here's How You Can Play Skyrim At 60 FPS On Series X
Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is still going strong after nine years. The open-world action RPG released back in 2011 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, and five years later, Skyrim received an upgrade for the following console generation. When the Nintendo Switch launched in 2017, Skyrim joined that console, as well. A "Very Special Edition" was even added to Amazon's Alexa.
Microsoft purchased Bethesda's parent company in 2020, leading many fans to wonder about the future of The Elder Scrolls series on all consoles. At The Game Awards, Microsoft revealed that Skyrim would be the next game to join Xbox Game Pass, its subscription service. This means fans can take advantage of the new Xbox Series X's 4K and 60 FPS capabilities while galavanting across Skyrim's massive world. However, there are a few steps involved to unlock 60 FPS and really get that next-gen experience for the over nine-year-old game.
The Uncap FPS mod lets you unlock 60 FPS without disabling achievements
User ghostcrew shared a tip on the ResetEra forum that explained how players can enjoy Skyrim in 4K and 60 FPS on Xbox Series X. Ghostcrew noted that Skyrim Special Edition supports mods and user-created expansions that enhance graphics and add unofficial patches, but using most of these mods will disable achievements. However, there is one mod that won't have this effect: the "Uncap FPS" mod from Bethesda.
The Uncap FPS mod was originally designed for the Xbox One X and the PlayStation 4 Pro, but as ghostcrew noted, it works even better with the new Series X's high-quality specs. To get it up and running, search in the mods for the black Uncap FPS thumbnail, then close and restart the game. You can then disable the mod from the manager, load up your save data, and the 60 FPS functionality will still be there. Without this mod, the game will only run at 30 FPS. Ghostcrew said that this process does have to be completed each time Skyrim boots up, but if you keep the game in the Xbox Series X's Quick Resume queue, it will only be needed once.
Thus, Skyrim lives on with yet another console generation. It's unclear right now when fans will get their hands on The Elder Scrolls 6, but at least they'll always have Skyrim.