A look back at the oddly strange, Skyrim launch party.

The other night I was talking to a good friend of mine about video games, and the discussion turned to Skyrim. Now my buddy doesn’t play a lot of open-world RPGs (he’s more into first person shooters), but a few months back he did get into Skyrim at my urging.

So anyway, we’re chatting over the phone and he’s telling me all about joining the Dark Brotherhood, when I casually mention that Christina Aguilera was at the Skyrim launch party back in 2011.

“Who?”

“Christina Aguilera.”

A pause. “You mean the singer? American Idol?”

“Yeah.”

Another pause. “She do music for the game or something?”

“Nope.”

“Then why was she there?”

“Got me hanging. I have no idea.”

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Skyrim Launch Party

So here it is. Going on 4 years since Skyrim came out, and I still have no idea why Christina Aguilera was at the launch party. She doesn’t strike me as a player, and I’ve never heard her name mentioned at all when it comes to gaming. It’s not like she’s Malukah — a legit singer in the gaming industry who’s also a big fan of The Elder Scrolls.

The image of Aguilera posing next to a Dragonborn statue still leaves me scratching my head…

Christina Aguilera at the Skyrim launch party? Yeah, seems legit. Photo copyright Getty Images.

Still Confused

And after all these years, she’s not the only celebrity at the Skyrim launch party that I still find confusing. Take a look at this page from IMDb. Most of these people I’ve never heard of, let alone had anything to do with Skyrim (the only exception being the esteemed Lynda Carter who did voice acting for Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, and The Elder Scrolls Online).

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So why would Bethesda launch one of the greatest video games of all time with a bunch of celebs who:

Had absolutely nothing to do with the game,
Are basically grade B talent?

It’s not as if these celebs resonate with The Elder Scrolls fan base or anything (again, the exception being Lynda Carter), so I still find the whole marketing aspect of the launch party oddly strange.

I suppose the event drew attention to Skyrim from people outside the gaming community, but as an Elder Scrolls fan it left me shaking my head. I understand the need for brand exposure, but if there’s a launch party for Elder Scrolls VI, lets hope Bethesda makes the event more about the fans and talent who made the game, and less about posers.