Skyrim-powered remake of Oblivion planned for release in 2025
by Danny Craig
·
Bethesda
The full release of Skyblivion, a remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, has been slated for a 2025 release after over a decade of development.
The details:
- The TESRenewal modding group, the team behind the project, released a cinematic trailer to YouTube, confirming that the remake will be available by 2025. There is a possibility of an earlier release if the team manages to wrap up the project sooner, however, as the description of the video contains the following copy: "Regardless, we would like to share today that Skyblivion is in a state where we can promise a 2025 release at the latest."
- Skyblivion is one of several projects aimed at porting an entire Elder Scrolls game into the engine of another series entry, including quests, characters, locations, and items. Morrowblivion, a mod that brought the entirety of Morrowind and its expansions into the Oblivion engine, was also created by the group. A separate team is currently working on Skywind, which began development in 2012 and aims to achieve the same goal as Morrowblivion, but in Skyrim's engine.
- Initially a small group of people, the team grew with volunteers offering assistance in various aspects of development after the mod's trailers gained traction in 2016. The project has been in development since 2012, and it's impressive that a small core team and a group of volunteers have managed to completely recreate an RPG of Oblivion's size inside an entirely different engine in just a decade.
- Rebelzize, the project's public relations manager, commented beneath the trailer that they personally believe they can "beat our estimates," but that it all depends on "how much free time we can spend on our hobby project and how many people sign up to help out after this video." Despite nearing completion, the team is still looking for volunteers on their website to help clean up before the release. Remember, these are not paid positions, but if you have the necessary skills and want to help, you can find the application form here.
In other Bethesda news:
- Bethesda’s upcoming RPG Starfield is still scheduled for release in the "first half of 2023," but is confirmed to be absent from Xbox’s Developer_Direct showcase on January 25. However, Xbox said in the announcement that Starfield would receive its own standalone show to "dedicate the proper amount of time for a deep dive."
- The developers behind Starfield have been releasing a Q&A series titled "Constellation Questions," which provides some insight into what storylines, mechanics, and other design choices we’ll see in the final product. We wrote up a summary of the last episode regarding the game’s quests and companions here.
- It has been confirmed that three future Bethesda titles will be Xbox exclusives in an FTC complaint regarding Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. In the document, it’s stated that Microsoft "plans for three of the newly acquired titles to become exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox consoles and Xbox Game Pass subscription services," with a game in one of Bethesda’s existing franchises also being exclusive to PC and Xbox.