The legacy of a video game is markedly different than most media thanks to the technology that defines it. Todd Howard, game director of Bethesda Game Studios, understands this. His upcoming release, Skyrim: Special Edition, is a modernized version of the best-selling The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which was first released in 2011. Howard believes games are the equal of films and novels, but too often games are limited to specific platforms that restrict future engagement. You can watch Star Wars whenever you want, but good luck playing groundbreaking games from the 1980s, like the Apple II version of Ultima.

“I'm always interested in 10 years from now can we still play these games easily?” Howard tells Newsweek. “People still play Skyrim a lot, even today. It's one of the most played games on PC.”

The current vitals for the Skyrim legacy are encouraging. It’s sold more than 23 million copies and earned over $1.4 billion. Despite being five years old, it’s often among the 20 most played games on PCs. But the game isn’t available for current-generation gaming consoles, and Skyrim: Special Edition is aimed squarely at Xbox One and PlayStation 4 owners, including those who’ve already played the game on older consoles.

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“This is the first time we've done a remaster,” says Howard. “This was a good opportunity to freshen it up for the current systems. And it feels like a modern game. You don't feel its age when you play it. That's a good thing about it.”

Skyrim: Special Edition will keep the game relevant and playable for tens of millions of console gamers. Some fans, though, would’ve preferred to see Bethesda acknowledge some of its other legacies instead. The games that preceded Skyrim—The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion—established a devoted fan base whose word of mouth helped propel new fans to Skyrim. But from Howard’s perspective, the fans clamoring for the deep cuts are in the minority.

“Skyrim is our most award-winning and popular one by a large margin. It's the one most people ask us about. We love all our children though,” he says, laughing. “When someone says, ‘I prefer Morrowind’ or ‘I prefer Oblivion’ or Arena or Daggerfall or whatever, that never bothers me. We made each game to stand on its own. They each have their own tone. They do each have their own legacy.”

Fans have an active role in shaping Skyrim’s legacy, more so than other video games, at least, thanks to Bethesda’s ongoing work in the modding community. The content added by way of mods, from visual enhancements to entire storylines, is done by players, for players. Until recently, though, the technology driving mods was available only on PC. Bethesda began bringing mods to consoles with 2015’s Fallout 4 and made sure to include the feature in Skyrim: Special Edition.

“People still want to play this, so we should get it on the consoles. And also work on the mod stuff because that gives it this life that seems never-ending,” Howard says.

It isn’t just players who feel inspired by Skyrim. Eiji Aonuma, the legendary creator of The Legend of Zelda, cited Skyrim as a source of inspiration for Nintendo’s upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Howard played the game at E3 in June and was clearly moved by the experience of seeing his work influence an icon.

“That was a bit surreal,” he says. “I did get to play it, and you see the edges [of Skyrim] in there. Surreal. Zelda is up there with three or four landmark things that define video games.”

Skyrim is already a landmark in its own right. But Howard is right to single out a few titles as true landmarks for the industry. Of course, no one can know which games will prove to be classics until enough time passes for the hindsight to come into focus. So Howard will continue to think 10 years ahead. The rest of us will have to wait.