The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth main installment in The Elder Scrolls series following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006) and was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 11 2011. The game is set 200 years after the events of Oblivion and takes place in Skyrim the northernmost province of Tamriel a continent on the planet Nirn. Its main story focuses on the player's character the Dragonborn on their quest to defeat Alduin the World-Eater a dragon who is prophesied to destroy the world. Over the course of the game the player completes quests and develops the character by improving skills. The game continues the open world tradition of its predecessors by allowing the player to travel to discovered locations in the game world at any time and to ignore or postpone the main storyline indefinitely.