The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is one of the greatest role-playing games ever made, no doubt. It makes a bunch of sense, then, that fans of the game are looking forward to Skyblivion, a remake of Oblivion which a team of dedicated volunteers have been beavering away on for over a decade now.
And many were elated when the Skyblivion team revealed that the mod would be released sometime in 2025. Yes, Skyblivion is actually a mod (short for “modification”) for Skyrim, the sequel to Oblivion that Maryland-based studio Bethesda put out back in 2011. The people behind Skyblivion are remaking Oblivion using publicly available “modding” tools made available by Bethesda themselves and others, so those wanting to play Skyblivion need to own both a complete edition of Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, as it’s explained on Skyblivion’s website.
This might seem like a small price to pay as millions of people already own Skyrim and Oblivion, while Skyblivion itself is free of charge. It is a proper remake of Oblivion too, unlike Bethesda’s own remaster which released in April, Skyblivion actually makes substantial changes to the game.
Some of these changes were shown off recently as the Skyblivion team put out a video which showcases the game’s iconic tutorial dungeon (see below), which undoubtedly is familiar to the millions which have played Oblivion. You get to meet the Emperor, choose your birthsign and witness his killing at the hands of Mythic Dawn, amongst other things. And you also get to fight a bunch of goblins and rats in the sewers.
The video (narrated by project leader Rebelzize) shows some of the changes made to interiors like the goblin paintings on walls, and also the new skylights, which let you take a glimpse at the vegetation and weather on the surface… Some things, though, seemed a bit off, like the physics – the way a bunch of goblins fall to the ground after they get hit by rolling logs didn’t feel natural. Also, and while exiting the sewers and emerging onto the surface still felt magical in this video, the graphics obviously don’t match those of Bethesda’s pristine Unreal Engine remaster, but are still pretty good.
There’s also the matter of whether Skyblivion will release in 2025 or not. Because clearly a project of this size is a big undertaking for a team of volunteers working on their free time, and receiving no compensation for their efforts. So said a former Skyblivion developer (a world designer named Dee Keyes who’s still listed on the game’s website – via IGN).
“In the last few months, it has been impossible for me or developers to convince Rebelzize [Skyblivion’s project lead] that this release date is not possible, this doesn’t come from a place of pessimism but realism. We are unpaid and part-time, this would be a massive undertaking for a paid development team and yet every attempt we made to beg them to postpone we are ignored”, said the man.
He also alleged Skyblivion was more about “crunch” than “passion” as the team sprinted to the finish line, trying to make that 2025 release date. Also, and while the trailers released by the Skyblivion team to date have looked great, this former dev said that “they would require massive amounts of work to fake the polish that is presented in those videos”, which surely is worrying, and suggests the final product might not look nearly as good as advertised…
Skyblivion’s communication lead (Evan Flatt) chimed in on Reddit about this, and insisted their goal is to release Skyblivion this year, while admitting the game could be delayed out of 2025.
“Now, what is ‘ready’? That is an ongoing conversation we have been having because the nature of a fan-made passion project is that there has to eventually be a cut-off of adding cool new things”, said Flatt. “Right now, we all agree Skyblivion isn’t ready (otherwise we would release it today). Our aim is that it will be by the end of the year, if we as a team decide that it isn’t we will be sure to share that”, added the man.
It would be a sad thing, though, if it turned out Skyblivion isn’t coming out this year after all. The game’s releasing in 2025 is something that had been announced back in 2023, and even if this is being made by a group of volunteers who are passionate about the Elder Scrolls, fans have surely waited long enough for Skyblivion. And given they already have Bethesda’s excellent remaster of Oblivion to play, interest could wane if Skyblivion doesn’t release in 2025, so here’s hoping we can return to the fantasy world of Tamriel in this remake before the year is out, then.