It’s likely man who enjoy video games were looking forward to Skyblivion this year. This is a fan-made remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, using Skyrim’s engine and Bethesda’s modding tools.
Video game company Bethesda, of course, already put out an official remaster of Oblivion in 2025, which has been played and enjoyed by millions this year (and is also one of 2025’s top sellers to boot).
Nonetheless, people were still looking forward to Skyblivion this year. The fan-made remake was looking great in previous in previews, and looks to be a proper reimagining of the 2006 classic RPG, while Bethesda’s remaster is essentially the same game with better graphics and some quality of life improvements.
However, Skyblivion, which had been announced back in 2023 as coming in 2025, has been delayed until next year. So said project leader Rebelzize in an update video (via Eurogamer), stating that “this is something we have known for a while”.
The fan-made remake, then, will miss its highly publicized 2025 launch, and will supposedly now release sometime in 2026. According to Rebelzize the people behind the game have “some last challenges to overcome that are going to require a little bit more time”.
The video below details progress on Skyblivion, with many things, including the world map, being fully done. Actually, the team behind the mod has uploaded an interactive version of it on their website, which you can take a look at here (or to avoid spoilers you might not want to though).
So what’s left for the Skyblivion modding team to do? The Imperial City (which houses the impressive-looking “White Gold Tower” which can be seen from a distance away and looked great in Bethesda’s remaster this year) is not complete. Final assets are not yet ready for Cyrodiil’s (the fantasy province where the game takes place) greatest city it seems.
Also, the team is hard at work on the game’s UI (short for user interface as you know). They are making it more Skyrim-like and less like Oblivion’s apparently. Cinematics have also stalled development, and volunteers are being called on in order to finish “a mayor scene”.
Features like spellcrafting and underwater combat will be missing at release, though, but could be added at a later date.
Which is all fine and dandy, but this begs asking the question, will gamers still want to play Skyblivion when it launches in 2026?
The thing is, while the trailer above looks good, it the visuals pale in comparison to those of Bethesda’s own remaster released in April this year. This is because while the Skyrim engine (which Skyblivion uses) has gotten updates since the game’s launch (that unforgettable 11.11.11 release date), it’s pretty dated by today’s standards, the graphics not being cutting edge even at release. Also the fact the UI will be more Skyrim-like than Oblivion-like means this will have a “Skyrim mod” feel to it which could detract from the experience – this is supposed to be an Oblivion remake after all.
Meanwhile, the lack of spellcrafting could be missed by Oblivion veterans, while seasoned players might wonder why there’s no underwater combat at release either. And while Bethesda’s Oblivion remaster includes the expansions (Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles) Skyblivion won’t at launch. And there’s no telling how long it will take the Skyblivion team to add these features and “remake” the expansions, if at all.
It is also hard to fathom why somebody who has played Oblivion Remastered to death this year might be eager to dive into Skyblivion when it is released next year too… Because although exploring the game’s reimagined towns and dungeons could be interesting, gamers might be done with the fantasy world of Cyrodiil for good, now looking forward to the release of The Elder Scrolls 6 which rumors say might arrive as soon as 2027. That or any of the exciting video game sequels slated to launch next year…
But still, Skyblivion will be free to owners of Oblivion and Skyrim when it launches next year, so maybe complaints should not be the order of the day here, as the Skyblivion team has devoted more than a decade of their lives to the project… But it’s hard not to think that this might end up being a case of too little, too late when it ships in 2026.