[PS5] Anniversary Upgrade content missing from existing save despite showing as installed – anyone experienced this?

[u/Pretend_Row_7567]

Hey everyone,
I’m having a really frustrating issue with Skyrim Special Edition on PS5, and I’m hoping someone here has experienced something similar or knows how to fix it.
I’ve been playing Skyrim Special Edition for quite a while and already had an existing save (currently level 45) when I decided to purchase the Anniversary Upgrade.
I mainly wanted access to the additional Destruction spells from Arcane Accessories, as well as the extra quests and other content.

I assumed the new content would simply be added to my existing game after purchasing the upgrade. However, that doesn’t seem to have happened.
The problem:
The game lists all the Anniversary Upgrade creations under System → Installed Content, including Arcane Accessories, Arcane Archer Pack, Bittercup, Bloodchill Manor, etc.
However, the actual content seems to be completely missing from my game.
For example:

Arcane Accessories: The Ancient Tome Chest in Hob’s Fall Cave doesn’t exist, even after clearing the entire cave. Faralda also doesn’t sell the additional spells.

Arcane Archer Pack: Fire Arrows, Ice Arrows, and Lightning Arrows don’t appear in the Misc category at any forge.

So far, I haven’t been able to confirm that any of the additional Anniversary Upgrade content is actually working.
What I’ve already tried:
1. Completely closing and restarting Skyrim multiple times.
2. Restarting and fully powering off my PS5.
3. Restoring PlayStation licenses.
4. Opening the Creations menu and selecting “Download All Owned Creation Club Creations”. The game reported that all creations were downloaded, but nothing changed.
5. Changing my PS5 console language from English to German and back, as suggested by Bethesda Support. This helped with the Creations menu initially being greyed out, but didn’t fix the missing content.
6. Completely uninstalling Skyrim and reinstalling the PS5 version of Special Edition, following Bethesda Support’s instructions.
7. Launching the freshly installed game without selecting “Download All”, as Bethesda specifically recommended.

Nothing has worked.

After the complete reinstall, the creations are still listed under Installed Content, but the spells, crafting recipes, and Ancient Tome Chest are still missing.
The Creations store itself now loads normally, and I can browse its content.
I’ve already opened a Bethesda Support ticket and am currently going through troubleshooting with them, but we haven’t found a solution yet.
My questions:

Has anyone experienced this after purchasing the Anniversary Upgrade on an existing Skyrim Special Edition save?

Is the Anniversary content supposed to work immediately with existing saves, or is there something else I need to do?

Could this be an issue with the PS5 recognizing the upgrade as owned but not actually loading its content?

Has anyone managed to fix this without starting a completely new game?

I really don’t want to lose my existing character or start over just to access content I’ve already paid for.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[u/NomadsoftheSolstice]

Have you updated all creations?

[u/Pretend_Row_7567 → u/NomadsoftheSolstice]

There it says „there are no updates available at the moment“

[u/GodButCursed]

There is also a option that should say "activate all creations"

[u/Pretend_Row_7567 → u/GodButCursed]

Yes I tried that, however that did not change anything at all :(

[u/GodButCursed → u/Pretend_Row_7567]

Did you try downloading all the content manually?

[u/Pretend_Row_7567 → u/GodButCursed]

You mean, go the creations tap in the Main Menu and look for creations that are marked as „owned“ and just download em?

[u/GodButCursed → u/Pretend_Row_7567]

Yes

[u/Historical_Bath209]

Could it be that they only work in a new save?