What you need to know
- A now-deleted Reddit post reportedly written by a former Virtuos Games employee may have revealed some interesting information.
- According to the leak, Virtuos Games is currently working on a remake or remaster of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
- The leak has been met with some doubt from the gaming community, especially with the existence of the community-made Skyblivion mod.
- Virtuos Games is most well-known for supporting other studios with console ports, remasters, and more, and is known to be working on the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake.
The video games industry is rife with supposed leaks and rumors, many of which can't be properly verified until the information is made official. The latest leak making the rounds in the community is the reported existence of a remake or remaster of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, helmed by Virtuos Games.
The leak comes from Reddit in a now-deleted post, and claims to cover several in-development projects at Virtuos Games Paris. The leaker was reportedly a former Virtuos Games employee (verified by the mods) shedding light on what the studio is doing at the moment. Among these projects was the "Altar" project, which is supposedly Oblivion built in-part in Unreal Engine 5.
The original Reddit post:https://t.co/5NeR4okFle pic.twitter.com/q7DzbyefQIJuly 31, 2023
The leak goes on to say that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is either being remastered with updated visuals in UE5 (with most of the core gameplay and physics still handled by the original engine), or is getting completely remade. The former would aim to arrive at some point in 2024, with the latter aiming for a 2025 release. Instead of being done in-house with Bethesda, the project is being handled by Virtuos Games, well-known for supporting other studios with console ports and remasters, like with The Outer Worlds Spacer's Choice Edition and the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake.
The news has been met with middling reception, with many doubting the credibility of the claims. Still more are concerned that the project means Bethesda is undermining the hard work of all the modders working diligently on the impressive Skyblivion mod, which is remastering and porting all of Oblivion into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition. Regardless of your stance on the topic, this leak should still be met with a very substantial helping of salt.
For the unaware, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was originally released in 2006 for Windows PC and Xbox 360, and is one of the most legendary open-world fantasy RPGs of all time. It built the foundation for its sequel, Skyrim, to eventually launch and become one of the most culturally relevant and best-selling games of all time. Today, you can still play Oblivion and get a peek into the past of the best Xbox games through Xbox backward compatibility on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One X|S.
Windows Central's take
I and my colleagues here at Windows Central are hesitant to place much faith in this leak for a number of reasons. Bethesda's Todd Howard has stated in the past that he's not interested in remastering classic Bethesda games, believing that keeping them playable in their original form is the way to go. Considering how hilarious Oblivion is to play today, I completely understand this stance. Bethesda has remastered Skyrim (a couple times), but did so in-house and worked with talented modders to bring new content into Skyrim, which brings me to my second point.
Bethesda Softworks places a lot of importance on its relationship with modders to extend the lifetime of its games. Skyrim and Fallout enjoy countless mods on Windows PC, and Skyrim even has mod support on Xbox Series X|S. Content in both Skyrim Special Edition and Skyrim Anniversary Edition include mod content from Bethesda's Creation Club, which is a curated collection of officially supported mods from community creators.
It seems odd that Bethesda would entrust a remake of one of its most legendary games (especially when it's supposedly unclear if Virtuos Games is doing a remaster or remake) to a studio most known for console ports of existing games, especially when the Skyblivion team exists. Many of Skyrim's most talented modders have been working to port Oblivion into Skyrim, complete with restored lost content, updated systems, and remastered visuals. A remaster of Oblivion would fly in the face of all that work, especially when Bethesda could absolutely officially partner with the Skyblivion team if it wished.
Finally, as I mentioned above, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is still very playable, even on the latest Xbox consoles. While many parts haven't aged well (as you'd expect), one of the biggest advantages of doing a remaster or remake of a classic game is to bring that title to modern platforms and new players... Except you can go play Oblivion right now. If anything, Morrowind is most deserving of a remake — while still able to be played on modern platforms, it has not aged nearly as well as Oblivion.
Overall, I'm doubtful that this leak is legitimate, but I may be proven wrong in the future should Virtuos Games make an official announcement. In the meantime, Windows Central will be on the lookout for any additional information surrounding this leak, so stay tuned. If you're here because you really just want a new Bethesda RPG to sink your teeth into, Starfield is just around the corner.
