Skyrim patch incoming, will address long-term play on PS3

A fix is on its way for the now-infamous PS3 Skyrim bug that has made it virtually impossible for a majority of PlayStation Dragonborn to play the open world RPG for an extended period of time. This weekend, Bethesda confirmed to it has submitted its 1.2 patch to Sony and expects the problem to be fixed within a matter of weeks.

“[Bethesda] Wanted to let everyone know that the next PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 updates have been submitted for certification, and that the PC patch is coming too. The current estimate is that they will be live the week after Thanksgiving,” wrote Bethesda community manager Nick Breckon in a recent post.

The PS3 bug in question is a nasty glitch that slows gameplay to a crawl and makes a mess of one's quests once the save file climbs beyond the 5MB level.

Although Bethesda did not outright say if its latest patch would address this specific PS3 problem, Pete Hines, VP of Public Relations and Marketing, later tweeted: “On the list for this update is improved performance for long-term play on PS3.”

Hines added the patch will not force players to reset their characters, and that a complete list of tweaks and fixes for all version of Skyrim will be released soon once Bethesda is ready to go live with the update.

The "week after Thanksgiving" timeline is still vague, and it could mean fans affected by the glitch will have to wait another two weeks before they can dive back into what is otherwise a fantastic game (you know, when it's working). If you have yet to experience the issue on your PS3 run-through, consider yourself one of the lucky few. If, however, you're one of the countless adventurers who are currently using Skyrim as a decorative bookend, perhaps GR's latest rant on the issue will help you work out your frustrations.

Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries.