Oblivion Shows Remakes Could Be Key to Bethesda Getting Back on Track

By Azura, by Azura, by Azura – the rumors were true. Yesterday, Bethesda acceptable the net connected occurrence by yet pulling backmost the curtain connected Virtuos’ remaster (or is it truly a remake?) of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. An ‘Elder Scrolls Direct’ of sorts culminated successful the astonishment shadow-drop, which near-immediately transformed into hundreds of thousands of concurrent players. This infinitesimal of planetary hype and solemnisation feels similar a much-needed larboard successful the existent tempest Bethesda Game Studios has been facing successful caller years. From conducting years-long harm power to rectify Fallout 76’s misfire launch, to the lackluster reception of its caller sci-fi universe, Starfield, the studio’s astir caller output has had galore fans asking the aforesaid question: Has Bethesda mislaid the magic? There’s fiercer contention successful the RPG abstraction these days, with Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 and Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds franchise some garnering captious acclaim arsenic Elder Scrolls and Fallout spiritual successors. But portion Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 whitethorn beryllium years distant from reclaiming their crowns, this re-release of Oblivion whitethorn beryllium a measurement successful the close absorption – conscionable not successful the absorption you’d expect.

At its peak, Bethesda Game Studios was an RPG juggernaut. In 2020, Microsoft’s leaked FTC documents revealed that Fallout 4 had sold 25 cardinal units-to-date. The crippled shifted implicit 5 cardinal units successful its archetypal week unsocial according to VGChartz. Likewise, successful 2023 Todd Howard announced Skyrim had crossed 60 cardinal income (though it’s worthy noting rereleasing it 50 times apt helped). So what astir Starfield? Estimates enactment it astatine conscionable implicit 3 cardinal units a year-and-a-half station launch. While taking into relationship Game Pass subscribers (which would boost players if not sales) and Starfield’s deficiency of a PlayStation presence, this indispensable inactive beryllium thing of a disappointment for Bethesda. And portion determination is a Starfield fanbase, it’s acold smaller than that enjoyed by The Elder Scrolls oregon Fallout, and adjacent it has voiced displeasure with the game’s archetypal expansion, Shattered Space.

This each leaves the developer with a large problem. With The Elder Scrolls 6 “years away” and Fallout 5 conscionable a susurration successful the hallowed halls of the studio’s corridors, however tin this once-iconic RPG developer enchant their fanbase erstwhile more? The reply lies successful its past.

Rumours of the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remaster began backmost successful September 2023, erstwhile leaked Microsoft documents revealed a fig of unannounced Bethesda titles, including a remaster of 2006’s landmark travel to Tamriel (it besides includes different absorbing remaster – we’ll get to that soon). All was quiescent until January 2025, erstwhile a erstwhile worker of Virtuos fto gaffe much details, dividing Elder Scrolls fans arsenic to their authenticity similar the Stormcloaks vs. the Imperials. Finally, past week the dam broke (albeit early), mounting the net ablaze – determination were implicit 6.4 cardinal Google searches for ‘The Elder Scrolls VI: Oblivion’, rising by 713% successful the past week alone. At its peak, Bethesda’s uncover livestream had implicit fractional a cardinal viewers watching. Despite the leaks (or possibly due to the fact that of them), implicit 600,000 radical tuned successful to spot a 19-year-old crippled re-revealed to them. The aggravated fervent request to play the remaster caused discount crippled cardinal websites similar CDKeys to crash, and slowed Fanatical and Green Man Gaming to a crawl. As of yesterday, Steam’s concurrent players stood astatine 125,000 and the crippled is firmly the #1 champion seller. The enthusiasm Bethesda fans person for Oblivion burns arsenic agleam arsenic the flames that spill from the Oblivion gates themselves.

The connection from players is clear: if you (re)build it, they volition come. What amended mode to support fans engaged and invested during these agelong improvement periods than to invitation them to instrumentality a travel backmost to the mysterious isles of Morrowind oregon the hollowed-out husk of the East Coast? From a commercialized standpoint, it makes wide sense. While Bethesda’s main improvement unit toils distant connected long-gestating caller projects, trusted partners similar Virtuos tin usage historical blueprints to trade remasters successful shorter clip frames. Such remasters are based connected games with built-in audiences, and for galore they’re the archetypal existent RPGs gamers volition person sunk their teeth into during their respective generations. Restoring these works besides invites a full caller procreation to go obsessed with the interior workings of the onshore of Tamriel oregon crawl retired from the post-apocalyptic fallout into Las Vegas and D.C.

Bethesda has already strategically uplifted its ain catalogue erstwhile before. Fallout 4 was discounted by up to 75% during the Fallout TV show’s archetypal play connected Prime Video, alongside a cleverly scheduled next-gen update which brought implicit definite homages from the show. As a result, Fallout 4 income jumped implicit 7,500% successful Europe unsocial contempt being astir a decennary old.

Oblivion Remastered offers a sojourn to the past that looks similar the future. Image credit: Bethesda / Virtuos

Looking backmost to Microsoft’s leaked Bethesda roadmap, galore noted that a Fallout 3 remaster was listed to travel Oblivion 2 years later. It’s important to enactment the timelines from this archetypal presumption person shifted – Oblivion was primitively cited arsenic fiscal twelvemonth 2022. However, assuming these archetypal gaps stay true, it appears a Fallout 3 remake could beryllium connected the cards for 2026 – conscionable successful clip for Fallout Season 2, coincidentally. While a Fallout remaster seems inevitable now, fixed the 2nd series’ displacement to New Vegas, could it beryllium imaginable that Bethesda’s aboriginal conversations with showrunners Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet mean that a astonishment New Vegas remake could beryllium successful store? Given the synchronicity of the show’s archetypal play to Fallout 4’s vibe and aesthetic, could Bethesda level-up its craftiness adjacent much for the upcoming New Vegas-centric 2nd season? It shadow-dropped Oblivion – it’s not retired of the realm of anticipation that a New Vegas Remastered trailer is lying successful hold for america astatine the extremity of Fallout Season 2’s finale.

However, if there’s 1 crippled successful Bethesda’s backmost catalogue that deserves to beryllium remade the most, it’s undeniably The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Many Elder Scrolls fans person spent years fus-ro-dahing connected the mountaintop for this, with 1 radical of superfans going arsenic acold arsenic to remake Morrowind utilizing Skyrim’s tools, ala Skyblivion. However, Morrowind is not arsenic casual a crippled to remake arsenic Oblivion. It sits connected the precipice betwixt Bethesda’s evolutions arsenic a workplace – it is virtually built otherwise to our modern knowing of an Elder Scrolls game. It’s lone partially voiced, astir of the communicative is told done text, determination are nary quest markers (players indispensable virtually constitute down directions fixed by NPCs, prevention for those with cleanable memories), and combat physics are non-existent. Whereas Virtuos was capable to overhaul immoderate of the much finicky systems of Oblivion, the entirety of Morrowind is a finicky system. It’s wherefore galore emotion the game, but it’s besides wherefore it’s hard to remake. To remake Morrowind is simply a unsafe tightrope. Modernize it excessively overmuch and you hazard losing the magic it was primitively imbued with. Leave excessively galore antiquated systems successful place, and it’ll consciousness worse than an almighty skooma hangover.

When a workplace becomes the icon of a gaming sub-genre, the situation is this: however bash you innovate and germinate whilst holding onto your audience? Rockstar Games has kept Grand Theft Auto players satisfied for implicit a decennary done the ever-expanding multiplayer satellite of GTA Online, which successful crook fuels the eye-wateringly costly rumored fund for GTA 6. Bethesda’s bread-and-butter is richly detailed, expansive worlds that are resolutely single-player – Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76 conscionable don’t deed successful the aforesaid way. However, what’s wide done the overwhelming effect to Virtuos’ Oblivion remaster is that gamers are much than on-board to dive backmost into the historical annals of Elder Scrolls of years-gone-by. That’s not to accidental immoderate remaster is simply a slam dunk – this peculiar 1 is simply a wide merchandise of cautious information and skilled development, and a lesser crippled whitethorn person garnered a precise antithetic response, ala Rockstar’s ain GTA Definitive Editions – but what amended mode for the erstwhile king of the modern RPG to get backmost connected way than to respire caller beingness into immoderate aged classics?

Sab Astley is simply a freelance writer who has written for IGN, Polygon, TotalFilm, Rolling Stone, Radio Times, and Metro UK.