Bethesda has announced that gamers who have opted for the latest Steam Beta Update of Skyrim (update 1.6) will have access to mounted combat in Skyrim. As it is just in its beta stage now, console gamers will have to wait a bit longer until that content arrives on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Find all the details and instructions about the new update, which the patch will offer. However, if you opt into the Beta, be sure to back up your saved games or be careful not to overwrite your existing saves.

If you later decide to opt out of the beta program, your old saves will still work with the current release of Skyrim on Steam (v 1.5).

1.6 Update (all platforms unless specified)

NEW FEATURES

Mounted Combat - Skyrim now allows you to do melee and ranged combat while riding a horse

BUG FIXES

General stability and memory optimizations

General AI pathfinding optimizations and bug fixes

Optimizations and crash fixes for data leaks

Fixed rare crash with lighting

Fixed crashes related to loading and saving games

Fixed crash with summoned creatures/NPCs

Fixed rare issue where saves would be corrupted

Improved logic for when ranged kill cams are played

Fixed issue with ranged kill cams while killing a dragon

Fixed rare issue with certain ranged kill cams not playing properly

Fixed issue with nirnroot lighting not properly cleaning up

Fixed issue where bow damage was being calculated incorrectly

Fixed rare problem with werewolf kill moves would not finish animating properly

In “The Break of Dawn” fixed rare issue where Meridia’s Beacon would disappear from player’s inventory

Fixed occasional issue where followers would disappear after player pays off a bounty after committing a crime

Fixed issue where certain creatures and NPCs would fail to respawn properly

Fixed rare issue with dialogue subtitles not displaying properly

Fixed issue with water appearing blurry when loading a saved game after creating a save underwater

Fixed issue where map cursor would occasionally disappear after closing a message box with Kinect enabled (Xbox 360)

Fixed rare issue with shouts only performing the first level and not other unlocked levels with Kinect enabled (Xbox 360)

Fixed issue where the shout buttons would stop working properly if users mashed LB and RB during cooldown with Kinect enabled (Xbox 360)

STEPS FOR DOWNLOADING THE BETA UPDATE ON STEAM

Step 1: Log into Steam

Step 2: Click on Steam in the upper menu

Step 3: Select Settings

Step 4: Under the Account tab, go to the Beta Participation section and select Change.

Step 5: A drop down menu will appear. Select Skyrim Beta.

Step 6: Select OK.

Step 7: Steam will now restart. After Steam restarts, Skyrim will be updated to the Beta version currently available.