Bethesda Game Studios has reportedly greenlit an official remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Numerous reports swirling online claim that the allegedly upcoming Oblivion remake is in development at Virtuous Studios. However, that’s very likely not the case.
A viral report by gaming news website XFire has been widely shared on social media and gaming forums claiming that an Oblivion remake is in the works. While well-written, the source of the remake rumours is dubious.
XFire’s source for the Oblivion remake report is a now-deleted post from the subreddit Gaming Leaks and Rumours. Allegedly vetted by moderators on the subreddit, the poster claimed that they were an employee from Virtuous Studios, the studio behind the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake.
The post claimed that the upcoming remaster would use the original Oblivion engine, Creation Engine, for gameplay logic, physics and more. However, the game will benefit from new graphics running concurrently via Unreal Engine 5 with a “pairing system” that links UE’s assets to Creation Engine logic.
Pairing systems are not new to remasters or remakes. For example, 343 Industries’ Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and Halo 2: Anniversary both use pairing systems to run new graphics on top of the old games’ original engine. However, this does seem like a tall order for a title as vast as Oblivion, and on top of an already infamously finicky engine.
Furthermore, there are numerous reasons to believe the remake news is fake. Firstly, the post was deleted before it had any real impact on the subreddit. Secondly, there are already multiple remakes of Oblivion in the works.
Since the release of The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Bethesda has heavily supported the modding community. This has resulted in massive fan projects such as Tamriel Rebuilt and The Elder Scrolls Renewel Project.
This latter project is the reason why an Oblivion remake from Bethesda seems so unlikely. For the past decade, fans have been working intensely on remaking the fourth Elder Scrolls title in Skyrim’s engine, and the team’s work is finally approaching completion.
Additionally, there have been scarce calls for Bethesda to return to Oblivion, despite being a beloved game. Instead, fans have often called for a return to Morrowind, a game that had much deeper RPG systems and substantially more archaic visuals.
Nevertheless, there could be an Oblivion remake in the works at Virtous Studios. Despite being the more forgettable of the modern Elder Scrolls trilogy, it’s still a beloved game, and with The Elder Scrolls 6 still five years away, this could tide fans over.
On the other hand, how much of Oblivion’s charm revolves around it being a broken mess with some truly bizarre graphical decisions. (Egad, those faces!)