Does Skyrim Special Edition have all the DLC?
Yes! As an avid Skyrim player and content creator, I can definitively say the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition bundles the full base game with all 3 major DLC expansions – Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn.
A Look at What‘s Included in the Skyrim Special Edition
Having played over 500 hours of Skyrim across multiple platforms, I‘m intimately familiar with the game‘s content. Here‘s an overview of everything you get with the Special Edition:
Base Game
The core Skyrim experience – an enormous open world RPG with endless quests, dungeons, items, and more. This alone provides 100+ hours of content.
Dawnguard DLC
This expansion adds a 10+ hour vampire-themed questline where you can join the Dawnguard or become a bloodsucking Vampire Lord. It also includes new areas like the Forgotten Vale and Soul Cairn for you to explore.
Hearthfire DLC
Hearthfire lets you design and build custom homesteads by gathering materials and constructing new buildings. You can also adopt up to two children. It adds deeper crafting/housing systems.
Dragonborn DLC
Dragonborn is the largest DLC, taking place on the new island of Solstheim. It includes an elaborate main quest related to Miraak – the first Dragonborn. Plus tons of side content like new towns, dungeons, enemies, and powers.
So in summary – the Special Edition bundles over 150 hours of official Skyrim content. You get endless gameplay centered around dragons, vampires, new lands, and more.
Content Differences Compared to Skyrim Legendary Edition
The Legendary Edition of Skyrim also featured the full base game and all DLC. So in terms of raw content, the Special Edition is identical.
However, having played both versions extensively, the Special Edition adds substantial visual improvements like:
- Upgraded Graphics/Textures – Better quality art assets & effects
- Volumetric Lighting – Dramatic sunlight/fog effects
- Dynamic Depth of Field – Cinematic camera focus changes
- Enhanced Particle Effects – More immersive spells and powers
In my experience, these changes make Skyrim feel significantly more modern and engaging, especially for newer players.
Additionally, mod support has been expanded greatly for consoles with the Special Edition. This opens up many new ways to customize and enhance Skyrim that weren‘t possible before.
So while you get the same content as the Legendary Edition, there are hugely impactful technical upgrades in the remaster that create a more stunning and rich experience overall.
Skyrim DLC File Sizes and Playtime Statistics
To demonstrate objectively how much content is packed into Skyrim‘s DLC expansions, here are some statistics on their size and playtimes:
| DLC | File Size | Main Quest Length | Completionist Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dawnguard | 1.9 GB | 10 hours | 40 hours |
| Hearthfire | 58 MB | 3 hours | 8+ hours |
| Dragonborn | 5.9 GB | 15 hours | 60+ hours |
As shown by the table:
- Dawnguard features 10 hours of vampire-themed story content, with around 40 hours for completionist players looking to fully explore the new zones and side quests
- Hearthfire adds lighter crafting/housing systems adding 5+ more hours
- Dragonborn is very content-rich – its main quest alone takes 15 hours, and you can spend 60+ doing everything
Adding it all up – the DLCs add between 25-110 extra hours depending on your playstyle. And the 1.9GB & 5.9GB sizes showcase the expansiveness of new zones and assets added in Dawnguard & Dragonborn.
So there is a tremendous amount of high quality content packed into the Skyrim Special Edition!
Verifying DLC Ownership Within Skyrim
As a tip for new players – you can easily check which DLCs are installed/enabled from within Skyrim itself by:
- Right clicking on Skyrim in Steam and selecting Properties
- Going to the DLC tab
- Verifying Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn are listed & checked
If for any reason they aren‘t showing, you can purchase them individually. But all officially purchased copies of the Special Edition bundle them together.
So hopefully this deep dive has provided ample evidence that the Skyrim Special Edition includes the full base game and all expansions for hundreds of hours of refined open world gameplay! Let me know if you have any other questions.
