RPG
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Give it 4 hours
Gets good by 4h then rated almost like by veterans
Fully opens up by 10h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending 35% of players who started
Started playing 89% of owners
Steam reviews 95% positive of 317,823
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 6 reviews are negative (16%); after 20h it's almost 1 in 20 (5%).
- Fully opens up by hour 10.
- The opening is criticised less than in 80% of games we track.
- 35% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “The Way of the Voice” and “Diplomatic Immunity”: from 73% to 55% of starters.
- 88% of owners got the first achievement.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 318,190 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 295 reviews: 105.7h for positive, 34.6h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (88.5% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Unbound Complete "Unbound" 100%
- Bleak Falls Barrow Complete "Bleak Falls Barrow" 85% −15
- The Way of the Voice Complete "The Way of the Voice" 73% −11
- Diplomatic Immunity Complete "Diplomatic Immunity" Most players quit here 55% −18
- Alduin's Wall Complete "Alduin's Wall" 48% −7
- Elder Knowledge Complete "Elder Knowledge" 42% −6
- The Fallen Complete "The Fallen" 37% −5
- Dragonslayer Complete "Dragonslayer" 35% −1
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (75)
story milestone ending side
- Unbound Complete "Unbound" 100%
- Blessed Select a Standing Stone blessing 89%
- Apprentice Reach Level 5 87%
- Dragon Soul Absorb a dragon soul 85%
- Bleak Falls Barrow Complete "Bleak Falls Barrow" 85%
- Adept Reach Level 10 78%
- The Way of the Voice Complete "The Way of the Voice" 73%
- Words of Power Learn all three words of a shout 68%
- Gatekeeper Join the College of Winterhold 64%
- Daedric Influence Acquire a Daedric Artifact 62%
- Citizen Buy a house 61%
- Take Up Arms Join the Companions 60%
- Expert Reach Level 25 59%
- Diplomatic Immunity Complete "Diplomatic Immunity" 55%
- Taking Care of Business Join the Thieves Guild 51%
- Snake Tongue Successfully persuade, bribe, and intimidate 50%
- Artificer Make a smithed item, an enchanted item, and a potion 50%
- Skill Master Get a skill to 100 49%
- Alduin's Wall Complete "Alduin's Wall" 48%
- Explorer Discover 100 Locations 48%
- Taking Sides Join the Stormcloaks or the Imperial Army 48%
- Hero of the People Complete 50 Misc Objectives 47%
- Blood Oath Become a member of the Circle 46%
- Elder Knowledge Complete "Elder Knowledge" 42%
- With Friends Like These… Join the Dark Brotherhood 41%
- Revealing the Unseen Complete "Revealing the Unseen" 40%
- The Eye of Magnus Complete "The Eye of Magnus" 39%
- The Fallen Complete "The Fallen" 37%
- Dragon Hunter Absorb 20 dragon souls 36%
- Golden Touch Have 100,000 gold 36%
- Glory of the Dead Complete "Glory of the Dead" 35%
- Dragonslayer Complete "Dragonslayer" 35%
- Sideways Complete 10 side quests 35%
- Bound Until Death Complete "Bound Until Death" 33%
- Delver Clear 50 dungeons 33%
- Outlander Arrive on Solstheim 33%
- Hero of Skyrim Capture Solitude or Windhelm 32%
- Awakening Complete "Awakening" 32%
- War Hero Capture Fort Sungard or Fort Greenwall 32%
- Darkness Returns Complete "Darkness Returns" 31%
- Hail Sithis! Complete "Hail Sithis!" 31%
- Married Get married 29%
- Landowner Buy a plot of land 28%
- Master Reach Level 50 28%
- Hard Worker Chop wood, mine ore, and cook food 28%
- Beyond Death Complete "Beyond Death" 26%
- The Temple of Miraak Complete "The Temple of Miraak" 25%
- Reader Read 50 Skill Books 25%
- Wanted Escape from jail 24%
- Proud Parent Adopt a child 23%
- Kindred Judgement Complete "Kindred Judgment" 22%
- The Path of Knowledge Complete "The Path of Knowledge" 22%
- Architect Build three wings on a house 21%
- Thu'um Master Learn 20 shouts 20%
- Standing Stones Find 13 Standing Stones 20%
- At the Summit of Apocrypha Complete "At the Summit of Apocrypha" 19%
- A New You Change your face 18%
- Thief Pick 50 locks and 50 pockets 17%
- Soul Tear Learn all three words of Soul Tear 15%
- Dragon Aspect Learn all 3 words of Dragon Aspect 14%
- Raven Rock Owner Own a house in Raven Rock 14%
- Lost to the Ages Complete "Lost to the Ages" 13%
- One with the Shadows Returned the Thieves Guild to its former glory 13%
- Solstheim Explorer Discover 30 locations on the island of Solstheim 13%
- Hidden Knowledge Learn the secrets of 5 Black Books 11%
- Auriel's Bow Use the special power of Auriel's Bow 9.2%
- Land Baron Buy three plots of land 8.1%
- Legend Defeat a Legendary Dragon 7.7%
- Oblivion Walker Collect 15 Daedric Artifacts 6.7%
- Stalhrim Crafter Craft an item out of Stalhrim 6.6%
- Vampire Mastered Acquire 11 vampire perks 5.6%
- Werewolf Mastered Acquire 11 werewolf perks 5.4%
- Master Architect Build three houses 4.6%
- Master Criminal Bounty of 1000 gold in all nine holds 4.4%
- Dragonrider Tame and ride 5 dragons 4.2%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-21.