Skyrim Special Edition patch fixes audio compression issues, missing NPC and 'general performance' problems

Bethesda has released its first patch for its recently released Skyrim Special Edition in beta form on Steam. The developer said the patch will be released for PS4 and Xbox One "soon."

After the release of its beloved 2011 RPG's remastered version on 28 October, players found multiple performance issues and bugs, adding that the game's audio seemed to be downgraded due to severe compression issues.

The new patch includes "general performance and optimization improvements" and updates "some" sound files to improve their quality, Bethesda said.

The latest update fixes a peculiar issue with NPCs that do not show up in proper locations and addresses another glitch involving saves that caused them to be erroneously marked as "Modded," even though there are no active mods.

In a Reddit post, user LasurArkinshare flagged the compression issue saying the audio in Skyrim's PC and Xbox One versions sounded "off," "muddy" and severely compressed. After comparing the audio quality between the original release and the remastered version, the user discovered that the audio files in the latter were in a different format and did seem to be "very aggressively compressed."

"I launched the Special Edition last night and began playing, but something about the audio seemed... off to me," Reddit user LasurArkinshare wrote, referring to Skyrim's PC and Xbox One versions. "I couldn't tell whether or not it was a placebo effect since I was going out of my way to analyse everything that could possibly have changed in the SE, but I couldn't help but notice that the audio seemed... muddier. Less crisp."

The audio of the Special Edition's PS4 version, on the other hand, sounded much better than the original, LasurArkinshare noted.

The developer quickly responded promising an incoming patch would address the game's performance issues.

PC players eager to fix some of the performance issues can choose to try out the patch.

To access the Steam beta, simply log into Steam and right click on "Skyrim: Special Edition" in your library. After clicking on "Settings" and selecting "Betas," a drop down menu should pop up. Click on "Beta," select "Ok" and just wait a few minutes for the game to automatically update. After the update is complete, Skyrim Special Edition Beta should show up in your library.

Here are the patch notes for Skyrim: Special Edition's 1.1.51 update on Steam beta:

Skyrim: Special Edition is available now for PS4, Xbox One and PC.