There was a spot of skycontroversy earlier this year when former Skyblivion world designer Dee Keyes took issue with the mega-mod's planned launch in 2025. Keyes was critical of project management over "crunching" in pursuit of what he called "a pointless and unachievable release date." And it turns out he was right, at least about the 2025 release target being unachievable, because the launch has now been pushed to sometime in 2026.
"Unfortunately, as we're getting closer to the end of this year, it pains me to have to announce that our initial goal of releasing Skyblivion this year is no longer possible," project lead Rebelzize said in a delay video released today. "Despite the game being in the best state it's ever been, we still have some last challenges to overcome that are going to require a little bit more time."
"Many parts of the project are in great shape," Rebelzize continued, including the Skyblivion world map, which is now 100% finished and viewable via an interactive map at the Skyblivion website. All quest dungeons have been completed, along with "most" random dungeons and the majority of the interiors of houses, shops, castles, inns, and the like, except in the Imperial City; all major cities, except the Imperial City, have also been completed.
But there's also still a lot left to do. Along with the unfinished locations, the navmesh, essentially a triangle-based grid that enables NPCs to move through the game, still has to be completed, as do various quests, interface updates, asset implementation, and testing. Rebelzize also revealed that the team has been secretly working on an ambitious cinematic for the final showdown between Akatosh and Mehrunes Dagon. But this has proven more challenging than the team apparently anticipated, "and we lack the people available to create and render the final scene." Thus, they're looking for help—specifically, a renderer, a set dresser, a VFX artist, and a destruction sim artist.
Rebelzize also revealed that a couple of features planned for Skyblivion—underwater combat and spell crafting—have been cut, although he hopes the team will be able to add them at some point after the mod is out.
At this point, I can't help but wonder if maybe even a 2026 release target is a little optimistic, but Rebelzize said it's happening: "The game is closer than ever, and with the Imperial City being our last major hurdle, and some more time to polish and complete quests, Skyblivion will finally release in 2026. We thank you all for your continued support of this ambitious project I started more than 10 years ago, and I really genuinely cannot wait to get Skyblivion into your hands."
