It’s time again to return to Tamriel. After a full week of speculation stemming from an alleged leak of screenshots and key art, Bethesda has confirmed that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is both real and will arrive very soon.
Following the details that popped up online, Bethesda had remained quiet until yesterday when a still image reading “IV” was posted on the publisher’s official X account, alongside a YouTube link for a livestream scheduled for 11am eastern on April 22.
But now, all has been revealed. As shown in the video, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is a major technical overhaul for the beloved 2006 RPG, and is available right now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC, and is playable for anyone who subscribes to Xbox Game Pass.
The video opens with Bethesda creative director Todd Howard and art director Matt Carofano, discussing the legacy of the franchise — specifically pinpointing Oblivion as a major turning point for the company. The bulk of the video sees multiple members of the studio reflecting on the impact of the game, paired with archival footage from the original title’s development roughly twenty years ago.
“Every time we think about Oblivion it’s, ‘What if we can give people that moment to everyone again?’,” Howard said in the livestream.
The remake is being developed by Virtuos, a Singapore-based company that’s best known for working on multiplatform ports of games like The Outer Worlds (2019) and Horizon Forbidden West (2022), as well as other big-ticket remakes like this summer’s Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.
Remastered is a complete graphical overhaul with some major tweaks to the gameplay.
Bethesda Softworks
As explained by the developers, the game is primarily a visual update, giving the classic game a graphical overhaul that brings it up to modern hardware standards using Unreal Engine 5. The gameplay has some tweaks, but according to the video, the game’s creators wanted to stick as closely to the original feel of the RPG as possible.
The gameplay itself looks smoother, and the user interface has been fully updated for increased quality of life. The leveling system has also been retooled to reflect a mixture of Oblivion and Skyrim’s systems. Players can also sprint now, which is a small detail that will probably make a huge difference in practice.
The remaster is being considered the complete version of the Oblivion experience and will include all the expansion content like 2007’s Shivering Isles, which is often considered some of the best content in the franchise.
Running on Unreal Engine 5, character interactions and lip-synching are now much smoother.
Bethesda Softworks
When rumors of the remake first cropped up on Reddit and social media, fan opinions were somewhat divided. Although Oblivion is a beloved game from the height of the Xbox 360 era, many hardcore fans of The Elder Scrolls series have been outspoken about their desire to see a modern remake of the second (1996’s Daggerfall) or third (2002’s Morrowind) rather than a game that at least feels like it was released just a short time ago (it’s only been 19 years!)
As is the case with Bethesda’s other big first-person RPG series, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls grew exponentially in quality with each subsequent release, with Oblivion serving as a breakout in the game’s popularity, selling over 9.5 million copies (as of 2015). 2011’s Skyrim is by far the most successful of the series, dwarfing its predecessors with an estimated 60 million copies sold since launch.
Skyrim had the benefit of arriving well during the early proliferation of social media, spawning multiple memes that broke through into the mainstream consciousness, as well as being ported to just about every available gaming platform over the last decade-plus. Despite this, many longtime fans still consider Morrowind to be the pinnacle of the franchise.
The intent of the game is to present the world of Oblivion as people remember it, but better.
Bethesda Softworks
So, while many may be disappointed that Oblivion is first in line for a full-on remaster, there’s still hope that, should Oblivion Remastered become a hit, Bethesda will follow up with modern takes on their older Elder Scrolls portfolio.
Outside of remakes, there has only been one new traditional singleplayer entry in The Elder Scrolls since 2011’s Skyrim, with 2014’s The Elder Scrolls Online introducing a multiplayer live service take on the franchise. A sixth installment of the mainline series was announced back in 2018, with practically no further updates provided since.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC.
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