Skyrim VR
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| Skyrim VR | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| VR/AR | Virtual Reality |
| Developer | Bethesda Game Studios |
| Publisher | Bethesda Softworks |
| Platform | SteamVR, PlayStation VR |
| Device | PlayStation VR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality |
| Operating System | Windows, PlayStation 4 |
| Type | Game |
| Genre | Action RPG, Open World |
| Input Device | Tracked motion controllers, PlayStation Move, DualShock 4, Gamepad |
| Play Area | Seated, Standing, Room-scale |
| Game Mode | Single-player |
| Release Date | November 17, 2017 (PlayStation VR); April 3, 2018 (PC, SteamVR) |
| Price | US $59.99 (Steam, September 2026) |
| App Store | Steam, PlayStation Store |
| Website | https://store.steampowered.com/app/611670/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim_VR/ |
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR (commonly Skyrim VR) is a virtual reality version of Bethesda Game Studios' 2011 open-world action role-playing game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, published by Bethesda Softworks. It contains the complete base game together with its three official add-ons, Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn, and adds a control scheme in which the player swings weapons, draws the bow and casts spells with tracked hand controllers.[1][2]
Bethesda announced the game for PlayStation VR at Sony's E3 2017 press conference on June 12, 2017, and it launched on that headset on November 17, 2017.[3][4] A PC version for SteamVR followed on April 3, 2018, with official support for the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality headsets at a price of US $60.[5][1]
Reviews were generally favorable but noted the compromises of converting a 2011 game: the PlayStation 4 version holds a Metascore of 77 and the PC version 81 on Metacritic.[6][7] The game won Best VR Game at the 2018 Golden Joystick Awards, was the most-played PlayStation VR title in North America when Sony passed three million headsets sold in August 2018, and was still in the Platinum tier of Steam's most-played PC VR games for 2025.[8][9][10] Bethesda has not updated the PC version since 2018, and a large modding scene now supplies body avatars, physical object interaction and AI-driven dialogue.[11][12]
Gameplay
Skyrim VR keeps the content and systems of the flatscreen game: the province of Skyrim, the main quest about the return of the dragons, the faction and side quests, and character progression through skills and perks. What changes is the interface between player and world. Each hand controller maps to one hand, and the player can equip a weapon, shield, spell or bow in either, swing a blade with a slashing motion, raise a shield to block, and fire a bow by nocking an arrow with one hand and drawing with the other.[2][13][14] Spells are cast independently from each hand, so two targets can be attacked at once; lead producer Andrew Scharf described dual-casting at different enemies as feeling like being "Iron Man".[2] The world map and skills menu were redesigned as 360-degree views, and the heads-up display was repositioned so it did not feel claustrophobic in a headset.[14][15]
Two locomotion modes are offered: teleportation, aimed at players prone to motion sickness, and direct (smooth) movement. Turning can be set to snap or smooth rotation, and an optional field-of-view filter narrows the view during turns and fast movement.[16][17] The PC version adds a height slider for seated play, a physical sneaking option that lowers the character when the player crouches, "realistic" bow aiming and shield grip options, and, from update 1.4, a choice between headset-relative and controller-relative direct movement.[17][18] Both versions also support play with a conventional gamepad, in which case the original controls are kept and aiming follows the headset.[15][19]
On PlayStation VR the game is played with two PlayStation Move controllers or a DualShock 4.[20] Because the Move controllers have no analog sticks, direct movement points in the direction of the left controller and turning at launch used button presses; smooth rotation with Move was added in a December 2017 patch.[21][22] The single-camera tracking of PlayStation VR shaped the design: players who turned away from the camera lost controller tracking, so the team anchored the compass and other important interface elements in front of the player as a cue to face the right way.[16] On PC, reviewers found the thumbsticks of Oculus Touch easier for menus and movement than the Vive trackpads.[17]
Menus, inventory, dialogue and the map remain the flat panels of the original game, presented as floating windows; several reviews singled this out as the main break in immersion.[17][19]
Development
The original Skyrim was released in 2011 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.[20] Bethesda remastered it for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016 as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, which contains the base game and all of its expansions.[23]
Bethesda Game Studios built the VR version with Escalation Studios, a Dallas developer that ZeniMax Media acquired in 2017 and renamed Bethesda Game Studios Dallas in August 2018; the same team worked on Fallout 4 VR.[14][24] Scharf said that PlayStation VR games have to hold 60 frames per second at all times to stay comfortable and that Escalation helped get the game running smoothly while redesigning its mechanics for VR.[14] He described the balance between comfort and immersion as the biggest challenge of the project, and said the comfort options came out of internal testing, demo feedback and guidance from Sony.[16][15]
Skyrim VR was one of three Bethesda VR conversions announced in 2017 alongside Doom VFR and Fallout 4 VR. At E3 2017 Skyrim VR was announced only for PlayStation VR; Bethesda Game Studios said it planned to support "as many platforms as we can", and press coverage linked the absence of Oculus Rift from the announcements to the lawsuit that ZeniMax had won against Oculus earlier that year.[25][3] Bethesda announced the PSVR release date on August 22, 2017, and announced the SteamVR version, listing the Vive, Rift and Windows Mixed Reality as supported headsets, on March 14, 2018.[4][5]
Release
| Platform | Headsets | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 4 | PlayStation VR | November 17, 2017 | US $59.99 at launch; Move controllers or DualShock 4; supersampling on PS4 Pro; not playable on PlayStation VR2 |
| PC (SteamVR) | HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality | April 3, 2018 | US $59.99 on Steam; the store page lists April 2, 2018 as the release date |
Sony's compatibility guidance states that "PS VR2 can't play PS VR content", so the PlayStation 4 release runs only on the original PlayStation VR.[28] There is no native version for standalone headsets; owners of an Oculus Quest or later Meta Quest headset play the PC version by tethering with Oculus Link or streaming through Virtual Desktop.[29]
Bethesda's PC requirements are a 64-bit version of Windows, an Intel Core i5-6600K or AMD Ryzen 5 1400, 8 GB of RAM, a GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon RX 480 8GB and 15 GB of storage as the minimum, with a Core i7-4790 or Ryzen 5 1500X and a GeForce GTX 1070 or Radeon RX Vega 56 recommended.[1][27]
Updates
| Version | Platform | Date | Main changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.02 | PlayStation VR | December 2017 | Smooth rotation with Move controllers, adjustable rotation speed, optional spell crosshair, combat and blocking fixes |
| 1.2.20 | PlayStation VR | January 2018 | Camera height adjustment, adjustable direct-movement speed with Move, crosshair setting moved to the VR menu, perk and left-handed fixes |
| 1.3.64.0 | PC | April 9, 2018 | Fixes for a vanishing UI, headsets on a secondary display adapter and crossbow bolt angles |
| 1.4 | PC | April 27, 2018 | Map-marker hover and quick teleports with motion controllers, "Show Hands When Sheathed" option, HMD-relative direct movement, larger height offset range, bug fixes |
| 1.4.40.0.8 | PlayStation VR | June 2018 | New main menu, improved visual fidelity (particularly on PS4 Pro), hands shown when sheathed, HMD-relative movement, realistic swimming and realistic bow aiming options |
The April 27, 2018 update is the last official patch listed on the game's Steam news page; the Mad God's Overhaul mod project describes the PC game as having had no official updates since April 2018.[31][12]
Reception
| Aggregator or outlet | Platform | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Metacritic | PlayStation 4 | 77/100 (45 reviews) |
| Metacritic | PC | 81/100 (11 reviews) |
| OpenCritic | All | 76 average, 50% recommended (46 critics) |
| Steam user reviews | PC | Mostly Positive (9,253 positive of 12,346 reviews, September 2026) |
| Road to VR | PlayStation VR | 7.7/10 |
| Road to VR | PC | 8/10 |
| UploadVR | PC | 9/10 |
| PlayStation LifeStyle | PlayStation VR | 9/10 |
| IGN | PlayStation VR | 6.8/10 |
Reviews of both versions praised the scale and amount of content, which reviewers said had no equal in VR at the time, and criticized the compromises of porting a 2011 game. Reviewing the PlayStation VR version, Road to VR's Ben Lang scored it 7.7 (gameplay 7.5, immersion 8, comfort 7), praising the depth of the world and the bow mechanics while criticizing the menu-heavy interface, the visible Move controller models in place of hands, and detail that fell off sharply beyond about 15 feet even with the supersampling of the PS4 Pro version. His verdict was that the game "brings a level of world depth and vastness of content that's unmatched anywhere else in VR to date", and closed with the line: "If you can put up with Skyrim VR's port-y feeling, you've got a huge world to explore and a ton to do."[26] UploadVR's David Jagneaux found the visuals closer to the PlayStation 3 original than to the 2016 remaster and called moving in combat with Move controllers frustrating, but still recommended it for the hundreds of hours of content.[20] IGN gave the PSVR release 6.8 and Game Informer scored it 5 out of 10, both counted in OpenCritic's 76 average.[33]
The PC release reviewed better. Road to VR's Scott Hayden scored it 8 (gameplay 7, immersion 8, comfort 9), calling the PC release, run at maximum settings with supersampling, "the Skyrim VR you were promised", while melee still felt weightless and the floating menus broke immersion. He credited the game's "vast and rich world, great voice acting and depth of play" with making up for most of its shortcomings, and concluded that the PC release "shows that you can bring an older, more mature game to VR and have great results".[17] Jagneaux, in UploadVR's PC review, credited the accurate 360-degree tracking of Rift and Vive controllers with fixing the Move version's aiming problems, but reported persistent bugs, pop-in and flat textures.[19] The PC Metascore of 81 is based on 11 reviews, with UploadVR at 90 and Road to VR at 80.[7]
Bethesda did not release sales figures. Interviewed at E3 in June 2018, Bethesda's Pete Hines said the three Bethesda VR titles had "done really well" and that "Skyrim rocketed right to the top on PSVR and stayed there", adding that the PC release had done the same.[34] When Sony announced on August 16, 2018 that it had sold more than three million PlayStation VR systems and 21.9 million PS VR games and experiences, Skyrim VR headed its list of the ten most-played PS VR games in North America.[9] In Valve's Best of 2025 ranking of PC VR games by unique players over the calendar year, Skyrim VR was placed in the top Platinum tier.[10]
Awards
| Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 18th Game Developers Choice Awards (March 2018) | Best VR/AR Game | Nominated |
| 2018 VR Awards | VR Game of the Year | Nominated |
| 2018 Golden Joystick Awards (November 16, 2018) | Best VR Game | Won |
At the Game Developers Choice Awards the category went to Superhot VR, with Lone Echo, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Star Trek: Bridge Crew as the other finalists.[35][36] The Golden Joystick win came at a ceremony at the Bloomsbury Big Top in London on November 16, 2018.[8]
Modding
The PC version accepts community mods; the PlayStation VR version does not. Skyrim VR is derived from Skyrim Special Edition, so most Special Edition mods are compatible, and the VR-specific ecosystem is built on the SKSEVR script extender and a VR build of the SkyUI interface mod.[38] Two mods address the most common complaints about the official release. VRIK Player Avatar gives the player a full tracked body instead of floating hands or controller models, with weapon holsters on the body and a gesture system for magic and shouts.[11][38] HIGGS VR, released by the modder FlyingParticle in January 2021, adds hand and object collision, lets the player grab items with either hand and pull them from a distance in the manner of the gravity gloves in Half-Life: Alyx, and can be combined with VRIK for dynamic hand poses.[39] Road to VR's 2021 survey of the scene also listed Mage VR (drawing glyphs to cast spells), Weapon Throw VR, Spellsiphon, True 3D Sound and several weather, water and tree replacements, and described the mods as improving the game "in ways Bethesda simply won't".[11]
Later projects extend the game beyond its original systems. Mantella, an open-source project by the modder Art From The Machine, chains speech-to-text, a large language model and text-to-speech so that the player can speak to NPCs and receive generated spoken replies;[40] UploadVR's 2025 hands-on found the results promising but slowed by latency, freezes and bugs.[41] Mad God's Overhaul, maintained by the Synergy Team, is a curated mod list of roughly 1,600 mods with its own compatibility patches. Its version 4.0 replaced Mantella with the SkyrimNet AI framework for NPC dialogue and adds VR climbing and interactive levers and chains; release candidate 4.1 was published on September 4, 2026.[12][42]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Skyrim VR Comes to SteamVR". Bethesda.net. Bethesda Softworks. 2018-04-03. https://bethesda.net/en/article/4YSRrlXtpuKeWIK6EMiG84/skyrim-vr-comes-to-steamvr. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Reimagining Skyrim for VR". The Elder Scrolls Official Site. Bethesda Softworks. 2017-11-09. https://elderscrolls.bethesda.net/en-EU/news/4NYGS8KXEIEyUssayc6iWy/reimagining-skyrim-for-vr. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lucas Matney (2017-06-12). "Skyrim is coming to the PlayStation VR". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/12/skyrim-is-coming-to-the-playstation-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 David Jagneaux (2017-08-22). "UPDATE: Bethesda Announces 2017 Launch Dates For Fallout 4 VR, Skyrim VR, And Doom VFR". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/bethesda-launch-dates-fallout-skyrim-doom-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ben Lang (2018-03-14). "'Skyrim VR' Launching on PC April 3rd with Support for Vive, Rift, and Windows VR". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/skyrim-vr-steamvr-pc-release-date-support-vive-rift-windows-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR critic reviews (PlayStation 4)". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-vr/critic-reviews/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR critic reviews (PC)". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-vr/critic-reviews. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "2018 Golden Joystick Awards Winners Announced". Worthplaying. 2018-11-16. https://worthplaying.com/article/2018/11/16/news/111807-2018-golden-joystick-awards-winners-announced/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mary Yee (2018-08-16). "Celebrating 3 Million PS VR Systems Sold". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/2018/08/16/celebrating-3-million-ps-vr-systems-sold/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Scott Hayden (2026-01-12). "Steam Reveals Most Played PC VR Games of 2025". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/steam-most-played-pc-vr-games-2025/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Scott Hayden (2021-08-23). "'Skyrim VR' Has Made Great Strides in Immersion Thanks to Mods". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/skyrim-vr-immersion-mods-higgsvr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Mad God's Overhaul for Skyrim VR". Synergy VR. https://synergyvr.org/mgo/index.html. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Justin Massongill (2017-06-19). "Skyrim for PlayStation VR is a Frighteningly Empowering Experience". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/2017/06/19/skyrim-for-playstation-vr-is-a-frighteningly-empowering-experience/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 David Jagneaux (2017-11-15). "Rebuilding Tamriel: How Bethesda Reimagined Skyrim for VR". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/bethesda-skyrim-vr-future-vr-games/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Tyler Treese (2017-11-15). "Interview: How Bethesda Made Skyrim Work in Virtual Reality". PlayStation LifeStyle. https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2017/11/15/skyrim-vr-interview-bethesda-talks-vr-design-philosophy/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Alissa McAloon (2017-11-16). "How Skyrim VR devs adjusted Skyrim to make it a good fit for VR". Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/how-i-skyrim-vr-i-devs-adjusted-i-skyrim-i-to-make-it-a-good-fit-for-vr. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 Scott Hayden (2018-04-02). "'Skyrim VR' for PC (Vive, Rift, and Windows VR) Review - a Dragon-sized Feast for the Eyes". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/skyrim-vr-review-pc-rift-vive-windows/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Skyrim VR - Update 1.4 Patch Notes". Steam Community. Bethesda Softworks. 2018-04-27. https://steamcommunity.com/games/611670/announcements/detail/1664520511264595729. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 David Jagneaux (2018-04-02). "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR (Rift and Vive) Review - Become the Dragonborn". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/skyrim-vr-rift-vive-pc-review/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 David Jagneaux (2017-11-16). "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR PSVR Review". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/skyrim-vr-psvr-review/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Chandler Wood (2017-11-20). "Skyrim VR Review - It's Skyrim, In VR (PSVR)". PlayStation LifeStyle. https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/review/617571-skyrim-vr-review-skyrim-vr-psvr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 David Jagneaux (2017-12-04). "Skyrim VR Patch 1.02 Is Finally Adding Smooth Turning For PS Move". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/skyrim-vr-patch-1-02-finally-adds-smooth-turning-ps-move/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Michael Harradence (2017-08-23). "Skyrim VR release date announced". PlayStation Universe. https://www.psu.com/news/skyrim-vr-release-date-announced/. Retrieved 2026-09-21.
- ↑ Jamie Feltham (2018-08-13). "Skyrim, Fallout 4 VR Developer Escalation Becomes Bethesda Dallas". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/skyrim-fallout-4-vr-developer-escalation-becomes-bethesda-dallas/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Jamie Feltham (2017-06-13). "E3 2017: Bethesda Will Bring Skryim, Fallout 4 VR To 'As Many Platforms As We Can'". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/bethesda-will-bring-skryim-fallout-4-vr-many-platforms-can/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Ben Lang (2017-11-19). "'Skyrim VR' Review - The Other Side of the Immersion Equation". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/skyrim-vr-review-playstation-vr-psvr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR on Steam". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/611670/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim_VR/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 "PS VR2 game and console compatibility". PlayStation Support. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps-vr2-compatibility/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ David Jagneaux (2020-05-23). "How To Play Skyrim VR On Oculus Quest - What You Need And The Best Options". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/how-to-play-skyrim-vr-on-oculus-quest/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Tuffcub (2018-01-31). "Skyrim VR Patch 1.2.20 Is Out Now". TheSixthAxis. https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2018/01/31/skyrim-vr-patch1-2-20-is-out-now/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR - News". Steam Community. Bethesda Softworks. https://steamcommunity.com/app/611670/allnews/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2018-06-26). "'Skyrim VR' PSVR Patch Brings Improvements to Visual Fidelity, Move Controls and More". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/skyrim-vr-psvr-patch-brings-improvements-visual-fidelity-move-controls/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR Reviews". OpenCritic. https://opencritic.com/game/5111/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-vr. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ David Jagneaux (2018-06-18). "Bethesda: Skyrim VR, Fallout 4 VR, And DOOM VFR Have All Sold 'Really Well'". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/bethesda-skyrim-vr-fallout-doom-sold-well/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 "Archive - 18th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards". Game Developers Choice Awards. https://gamechoiceawards.com/archive-gdca-2018/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 Jamie Feltham (2018-03-23). "Superhot VR Wins Best VR Game At GDC Awards Despite Running In 2017 Too". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/superhot-vr-wins-best-vr-game-at-gdc-awards-despite-being-nominated-last-year-too/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ David Jagneaux (2018-07-12). "2018 VR Award Nominations Highlight Skyrim, Beat Saber, Coco, And More". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/2018-vr-award-nominations-highlight-skyrim-beat-saber-coco-and-more/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 David Jagneaux (2021-04-23). "Best Must-Have Skyrim VR Mods To Make Tamriel Even More Immersive". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/best-must-have-skyrim-vr-mods-more-immersive/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2021-01-27). "Inspired by 'Half-Life: Alyx', This 'Skyrim VR' Mod Fixes Poor Object Interaction and Looting". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/skyrim-vr-mod-higgsvr-hand-gravity-gloves/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Art From The Machine. "Mantella: Skyrim and Fallout 4 mod which allows you to naturally speak to NPCs". GitHub. https://github.com/art-from-the-machine/Mantella. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Don Hopper (2025-03-12). "Playing Skyrim VR With ChatGPT Powering NPC Conversations". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/playing-skyrim-vr-with-chatgpt-powering-npc-conversations/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ "MGO 4.0 RC4.1 - Mad God's Overhaul for Skyrim VR". Synergy VR. 2026-09-04. https://synergyvr.org/mgo/load-order/mgo-4-rc4/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.