The year 2006 will be fondly remembered by those who were gaming back then. After all, that year saw the release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, an epic role-playing game set in a wonderfully detailed medieval fantasy world. Beginning in a dark dungeon, the player character crosses paths with the emperor of Tamriel, setting forth on a grand adventure once he emerges into the game’s open world.
As is the case with other games by developer Bethesda, there’s not only the main quest to follow (given to you by the Emperor in the game’s tutorial dungeon), but also many side quests to complete in the fantasy province of Cyrodiil where the game is set.
Oblivion arguably was a better game than its predecessor Morrowind in every respect, but also paved the way for 2011’s Norse-themed Skyrim, still considered the pinnacle of The Elder Scrolls series of games.
But still, Oblivion is many an Elder Scrolls favorite entry, so many were ecstatic when it was revealed that a fan-made remake of the game was in the works. And Skyblivion (the name of said remake) has now been in development for over a decade, with the team behind it showing off their progress, with the game’s characters, Oblivion’s locations and other elements of the game being lovingly rendered using Skyrim’s engine and modding tools.
And Oblivion fans were even more excited back in 2023 when it was announced that Skyblivion would be seeing a release sometime this year. But now that 2025 has arrived, some might be wondering if the team behind Skyblivion may have taken too long with their remake of Oblivion, as rumors doing the round online point to Bethesda planning to release an official remake of their 2006 classic game.
That’s right, an official remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is seemingly in development at US studio Virtous (obviously under Bethesda’s supervision). The remake is said to run on Unreal Engine 5, and according to an accidental leak by a former Virtuous employee (as covered on IGN) it will bring improvements to combat and stealth, amongst other things.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion could be getting two remakes this year.
For instance, blocking during fights will feel more like it does in modern action games and “Soulslike” games are specifically mentioned in the leak. It’s apparently also harder to knockdown characters when their stamina is depleting in a fight. Also interesting is the fact that archery has been allegedly modernized in the remake, whether playing in third-person or first-person perspective.
Of course, like all video game leaks this one must be taken with a pinch of salt, but lending credibility to it is the fact that an Oblivion remaster was scheduled for financial year 2022 in Microsoft documents that emerged during a trial over the acquisition of Activision Blizzard which pitted the Redmond giant vs the US’ Federal Trade Commision.
A Fallout 3 remaster was also listed, and other games including “Doom Year Zero” (now known as Doom: The Dark Ages) are in Microsoft’s pipeline besides the supposed Oblivion remaster, which seems to have mutated into a full-blown remake at some point…
This means that a fan-made remake and an official remake of Oblivion could be clashing swords this year, something which Skyblivion’s project lead does not seem to care about. Actually, in an interview with VG247 (via Kotaku) the man said the Skyblivion team would welcome the release of Bethesda’s remake, saying that “whether the rumors are true or not doesn’t affect us much”.
“If they are true I hope it will give people even more of a reason to try out our iteration of it. If it’s not true then this will be the best way to re-experience the game [with] a new coat of paint”, said Skyblivion’s project lead (who goes by the online name “Rebelsize”).
He also emphasized the enormity of the project, calling Skyblivion “modding on steroids”, also highlighting how this is a labor of love: “at the end of the day, we are not trying to sell a game and make a profit”, said the man.
And indeed watching the latest gameplay video of Skyblivion did bring fond memories of me playing Oblivion back in 2006. This video showcases one of the most memorable quests in the game, one in which the player has to track down a painter who somehow ended up trapped in one of his own paintings (beginning at about 20:48 in the video above).
I can’t help but notice, though, that both the visuals and gameplay seem somewhat dated, which makes sense taking into account that the team behind Skyblivion is remaking Oblivion using the Skyrim engine and associated modding tools, which hail from 2011.
The official remake (if it’s actually a thing) would look much better running on Unreal Engine 5, while offering modernized gameplay. Both games, though, will let players adventure while listening to Oblivion’s fantastic musical score (one of the best in gaming).
An official remake would also have the advantage of being on Game Pass on day one, while user mods such as Skyblivion can be tricky to install, truth be told, and be quite buggy at release, as was the case of the recent Fallout: London mod for Fallout 4.
Nonetheless, if there’s a game that deserves two remakes then that’s Oblivion. It’s definitely one of the top RPGs to hit the shelves in the 2000s, featuring spectacular locations, memorable characters and engaging quests. And like the game’s “White Gold Tower” (seen in the image which accompanies this article) here’s hoping both remakes get to shine brightly when they are released this year.