Over the last generation of consoles, it’s been a constant meme that there’s always one more port of Skyrim to come. Despite having multiple Xbox One and PS4 versions, a VR conversation and a Nintendo Switch port, there’s still one port missing: Skyrim Mobile. 

Why is there no Skyrim Mobile?

It’s common knowledge nowadays that the Nintendo Switch is considerably underpowered. Rocking a 2013 Nvidia Tegra SoC, Nintendo’s handheld is remarkably weaker than modern-day flagship phones. 

Despite this, there’s a lot of miracle ports to the system: Doom Eternal, The Witcher 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to name a few. While, one day, we may be able to play all of these games via Switch emulation, that won’t beat native ports. 

Of course, moving a game to a platform with as many spec variations as Android is more difficult than porting straight to Switch. However, with the advancements in mobile technology over the past near-decade since the Tegra was invented, it’s about time the game came to phones. 

So, we have a reason why Bethesda would be hesitant to bring Skyrim to phones, but should that stop them? While a Skyrim Mobile announcement may annoy hardcore console and PC gamers, it would be a fantastic move for mobile. But how perfect would Skyrim Mobile be? 

Why should Bethesda make Skyrim mobile? 

A pocket version of Skyrim is simply a dream of so many Elder Scrolls fans. A true open-world RPG experience in your pocket; an extension of the Oblivion PSP port that was sadly cancelled. 

With modern mobile controllers and features, Skyrim is well suited to phones. Its simple-but-sweet combat loop is easily translatable to a touchscreen scheme; not the sludge of Elder Scrolls Blades. 

But it’s the exploration and systems of Skyrim that would really suit a mobile release. While you can play a potential Skyrim Mobile for hours-upon-hours, it’s the simple chapter-based nature of quests (and frequent saves) that make it a fantastic portable experience. The Nintendo Switch has already proven this. 

Furthermore, the open nature of Android has the potential to offer gamers the perfect portable Skyrim experience that other platforms cannot? What do I mean by this? 

Give us mod support! 

The open-platform that is Android makes a Skyrim Mobile that can be fully modded to your hearts content. Much like early versions of Minecraft Pocket Edition, the openness of Android is perfect for a modding community. 

This means that Skyrim Mobile’s inevitable shortcomings could be fixed by fans. Just like the PC version and console versions; it’s a trend. But even better, fantastic expansions made by the community could become playable on the go. 

Furthermore, the massive expansion of mobile gaming capabilities means that Skyrim Mobile will only become more playable with time. In fact, with the power of recent mobile chips, it could easily be the best portable version of the game, rivalling Steam Deck. 

There are ways of playing it already 

With that said, there are ways of playing a version of Skyrim Mobile already. For example, a number of cloud gaming services do allow you to play the game on mobile with controllers. 

Furthermore, PC emulator platform Exagear can technically run the game. However, with the sketchiness surrounding the service, we can’t recommend it. This means that every way of playing the game on phones is worse than native. 

Skyrim Mobile should have released long ago, but Bethesda still hasn’t released a port. Hopefully, we beg, the game will be ported. It would be perfection.