Skyrim Anniversary Edition comparison video finds that the PS5 has the fastest load times

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It's a small difference but a noticeable one

Skyrim
(Image credit: Bethesda)

A Skyrim Anniversary Edition comparison video has highlighted what has changed in the definitive version of the classic Bethesda title. 

According to Digital Foundry, the channel responsible for creating the comparison video, one of the most impressive things about the brand new Skyrim Anniversary Edition is the new load times on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. As demonstrated in the video, the PS5 is able to deliver load times of around 2.65 seconds, which is a big improvement compared to the PS4 Pro (via backward compatibility) which took around 15.20 seconds to load a scene. 

As for the Xbox Series X and S versions, Digital Foundry’s tests found that the PS5 did perform slightly better in terms of load times with the Xbox Series X coming in at 4.22 seconds and the Series S at 4.77 seconds. Which, although very small, is a noticeable difference from the PS5 version.

The video also examined the framerates of Skyrim Anniversary Edition on all three of the next-gen consoles in question and found that on PS5 they were able to get comparable results to the 60fps mod on previous-gen consoles. The game’s resolution manages to maintain its 4K visuals as well as a locked 60fps in most areas, with the exception being during dragon battles which drop the framerate down into the 50fps range.

For Xbox Series X, it’s a similar story, this version of Skyrim also manages to maintain 60fps however does drop a little at times, again, usually when there’s some kind of dragon battle going on. As for the Xbox Series S, not much has changed from the previous version of the game when running on a 60fps mod. The framerate drops in the places you’d usually expect it to down into the 50s, again when facing a dragon head-on. 

So if you’re not sure which console you should play Skyrim Anniversary Edition on, the answer is actually that it doesn’t really matter too much. If you’re lucky enough to have all three consoles and want to play the game two seconds sooner, then you should play the PS5 version. However, if you only have an Xbox for example, you won’t notice much of a difference as all three versions of the game have seen almost equal improvements from the Skyrim – Special Edition, when running with a 60fps mod.

Find out everything you need to know about the new version of the game with our Skyrim Anniversary Edition differences guide. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.