Bethesda Game Studios fans had already been returning to Oblivion on-and-off for years - though, not as frequently as some dip back into Skyrim - even before Bethesda put the 2006 RPG back in the limelight with The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered. But what is it that keeps people, and now the studio, coming back for seconds (and thirds and fourths)? Bethesda's studio director says it's because the game itself feels like it changes upon every revisit.
GamesRadar+ caught up with Tom Mustaine, BGS' studio director, at The Golden Joystick Awards 2025 to get his perspective on why Oblivion's enjoyed such a long shelf life. Mustaine's personal, anecdotal answer is that "every time I play the game, I end up doing something completely different, and I experience [new] things even after I've played it so many times - I'll go a different direction and have a different set of experiences." And that's despite knowing all of the game's tricks by memory.
