The Skyrim Special Edition patch that Bethesda said it was working on a couple weeks ago is now out of beta and fully live on Steam. The update promises unspecified optimizations and bug fixes, but the biggest bang is that it eliminates the compression in "some" sound files that led to complaints about the SE's downgraded audio quality.

The patch notes in full:

  • General performance and optimization improvements
  • Fixed rare issue with NPCs not appearing in proper locations
  • Fixed an issue with interface elements not appearing correctly on certain displays (Xbox One and PS4)
  • Fixed issue with saves erroneously being marked as Modded, even though no mods are active
  • Updated some sound files to not use compression

Not a lot of detail there, and no indication of precisely which sound files have been fixed, which is unfortunate. The follow-up comments aren't entirely filled with praise either, although given the current player count the Skyrim SE currently holds the ninth spot on the Steam Top Ten, just a few thousand players ahead of the original Skyrim in fact the number of complaints is probably not unreasonable.

The Skyrim SE update should apply automatically, but if for some reason it doesn't, restart Steam and you'll be off to the races.