"Oblivion" remaster now available
Briefly announced, then immediately released: The remaster of the cult role-playing game "The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion" is available.
It was quick: Bethesda announced the hotly anticipated remaster of its cult role-playing game "The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion" in a 20-minute livestream – and then released the role-playing game directly after the stream. The "Oblivion" remaster costs 55 euros and will be released for PC, Xbox and PS5 – A version for the Switch 2 has not been announced.
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The remaster package includes all add-ons for the original game, including "Shivering Isles" and "Knights of the Nine". However, Bethesda could not resist a ten euro more expensive Digital Deluxe Edition with some additional content (horse armor!). You can buy the "Oblivion" remaster on Steam, among other places.
As expected, the remaster of "Oblivion" was developed using the Unreal Engine 5. The original was released in 2006 using the Gamebryo engine, which later evolved into the Creation Engine that powers 'Skyrim' and 'Starfield'. Bethesda and partner studio Virtuos said in the announcement livestream that the Bethesda engine will also be at work under the hood of the remaster.
The nature of the "Oblivion" engine is not an academic question for nerds, but is of fundamental importance for modding: unlike the Unreal Engine, Bethesda's engines don't necessarily shine with stunning graphics, but are very modular and have given huge modding communities the opportunity to extensively modify and expand their favorite games. Whether and to what extent this will also be possible in the remaster remains to be seen. Bethesda did not comment on modding in the stream.
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Remake or remaster?
Bethesda itself describes the new version as a remaster, not a remake. A completely new development in a fresh engine would be more in line with the common definition of a remake – However, these terms are not set in stone. From the gameplay footage shown, it is also clear that numerous assets have been recreated or at least edited: Swords are shaped slightly differently, monsters have new models and the animations have also been recreated. Every single asset has been created from scratch, Virtuos explains in the announcement video.
Virtuos doesn't seem to have touched the soundtrack, but the gameplay has: the combat system is said to be more powerful, the third-person perspective has been expanded and a sprint button has been introduced. The voice output has also been enhanced with new recordings. The iconic original voicelines and the somewhat silly dialog mini-game have been deliberately retained.
Much of the work was apparently carried out by Virtuos: a service development studio founded in China and based in Singapore, which primarily supports other development teams in their work. For the "Oblivion" remaster, Virtuos' Paris division worked with Bethesda. Previously, Virtuos assisted Guerilla Games with the development of the "Horizon" games and helped CD Projekt Red with the development of "Cyberpunk 2077" updates. Bethesda itself is currently working on "The Elder Scrolls 6", confirmed studio boss Todd Howard during the unveiling livestream of the "Oblivion" remaster.
(dahe)
