"Remakes Key for Bethesda's Revival, Oblivion Shows"

By Azura, by Azura, by Azura — the truth has finally emerged. Yesterday, Bethesda ignited a wildfire across the internet with the long-rumored remaster (or perhaps reimagining?) of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, developed by Virtuos. The reveal came as part of an “Elder Scrolls Direct”-style event, culminating in a surprise early launch that immediately drew hundreds of thousands of concurrent players online. In a time where Bethesda Game Studios has faced mounting criticism, this moment of global excitement feels like a long-awaited beacon of hope.

In recent years, Bethesda has been navigating turbulent waters. Fallout 76’s rocky debut required years of damage control, and its ambitious sci-fi title Starfield failed to capture the hearts of fans quite like its predecessors. With RPG competition fiercer than ever—titles like Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Outer Worlds stepping into the shoes once filled by Elder Scrolls and Fallout—many have wondered aloud: Has Bethesda lost its touch?

While Elder Scrolls VI and Fallout V remain distant promises on the horizon, this re-release of Oblivion might be the studio’s most promising move yet—though not in the way many expected.

At its peak, Bethesda Game Studios stood unrivaled in the RPG world. Fallout 4 moved 25 million units, with over five million sold in its first week alone. Skyrim shattered expectations, reaching 60 million sales (though frequent rereleases certainly played a role). Compare that to Starfield, which sits at just over three million units sold a year and a half post-launch. Even accounting for Game Pass subscribers and the game’s absence on PlayStation, it's hard not to see this as underwhelming. While there is a dedicated Starfield fanbase, many expressed disappointment with its first expansion, Shattered Space.

So how can a once-dominant developer reignite the spark? By revisiting the worlds that made them legends.

Rumors of the Oblivion remaster began circulating back in September 2023 when leaked Microsoft documents hinted at several unannounced Bethesda titles—including a revamped version of the 2006 classic. Silence followed until January 2025, when a former Virtuos employee revealed more details, dividing fans much like the factions in Skyrim. Then last week, the floodgates opened: over 6.4 million Google searches for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion—a 713% spike in just one week. At its peak, Bethesda’s live stream attracted over half a million viewers. Despite prior leaks (or perhaps because of them), more than 600,000 people tuned in to relive a 19-year-old experience. The demand was so overwhelming that discount key retailers like CDKeys crashed, while others like Fanatical and Green Man Gaming slowed to a crawl. As of yesterday, Oblivion Remastered sat comfortably atop Steam’s bestseller list with 125,000 concurrent players.

Clearly, the love for Oblivion burns as fiercely as the flames of the Deadlands themselves.

So what’s the takeaway here? If you build it—or rebuild it—they will come. What better way to keep fans engaged during these long development cycles than to invite them back to the sands of Morrowind or the ruins of the Capital Wasteland? While core teams work on next-gen projects, trusted partners like Virtuos can breathe new life into older titles using proven blueprints. These games already have built-in audiences, and for many, they were their generation’s first true RPG experiences.

Bethesda has done this before. During the release of the Fallout TV series on Prime Video, Fallout 4 received a massive price drop—up to 75%—alongside a carefully timed next-gen update that included subtle nods from the show. The result? A 7,500% surge in European sales despite being nearly a decade old.

Oblivion Remastered offers a visit to the past that looks like the future. Image credit: Bethesda / Virtuos

Looking back at the now-infamous Microsoft roadmap leak, a Fallout 3 remaster was listed to follow Oblivion by about two years. Although original timelines appear to have shifted (Oblivion was originally slated for fiscal year 2022), if those gaps hold, we could be looking at a Fallout 3 remake in 2026—just in time for Fallout Season 2. Considering how well the first season aligned with Fallout 4's aesthetic, could a New Vegas remake be lurking in the wings for Season 2’s finale? It wouldn’t be unthinkable after the success of Oblivion’s shadow drop.

Still, if any title deserves a full-scale remaster, it’s The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. For years, fans have shouted “Fus Ro Dah!” from the mountaintops demanding it. Some have even gone so far as to recreate Morrowind using Skyrim’s engine through the Skyblivion mod project. Yet, remaking Morrowind isn’t as straightforward as Oblivion. It sits at the crossroads of Bethesda’s evolution—built on systems foreign to modern RPG design. It’s only partially voiced, relies heavily on text-driven storytelling, lacks quest markers (forcing players to take notes or rely on memory), and features rudimentary combat mechanics. While Virtuos managed to refine Oblivion’s quirks, Morrowind is essentially one big quirk. That’s both why fans adore it and why remaking it poses such a challenge. Stray too far into modernization and you risk losing the soul of the original. Leave too many archaic systems intact, and it could feel worse than a hangover after a skooma binge.

When a studio becomes synonymous with a genre, the balancing act between innovation and tradition becomes critical. Rockstar Games has kept GTA relevant through GTA Online, funding the rumored budget of GTA VI. Bethesda’s strength lies in vast, single-player worlds—where Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76 have struggled to resonate. But the resounding reception to Oblivion Remastered proves one thing: players are eager to return to the roots of the Elder Scrolls universe. This isn’t just nostalgia—it’s proof that with the right care and craftsmanship, even decades-old titles can shine anew. And for a studio once hailed as the king of RPGs, breathing life into its classics may be the surest path forward.