Which version is that? The original Skyrim (aka oldrim) isn’t even purchasable on steam and hidden unless you bought it back then. But some people still play that because some old mods only support oldrim.
Special edition is the main one now. It’s holding 30k very steadily since 2020 https://steamdb.info/app/489830/charts/#breakdown
Many of modders also moved to gog version, myself included. Because I can permanently version control on gog unlike stream.
Here’s the origin article from torrentfreak. https://torrentfreak.com/modded-hardware-defendant-denies-nintendos-copyright-claims-in-court-241006/
Shitty IGN is just re-reporting based on torrent freak with less info.