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

By Azura, by Azura, by Azura – the rumors were true. Yesterday, Bethesda set the internet ablaze by finally unveiling Virtuos’ remaster of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. In a surprise shadow-drop during an ‘Elder Scrolls Direct’, the game quickly attracted hundreds of thousands of concurrent players. This moment of global excitement feels like a much-needed respite amidst the recent challenges Bethesda Game Studios has faced. From the troubled launch of Fallout 76 to the lukewarm reception of Starfield, fans have been questioning whether Bethesda has lost its touch. The RPG landscape has become more competitive, with titles like Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 and Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds gaining acclaim as spiritual successors to Elder Scrolls and Fallout. While Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 are years away, this re-release of Oblivion could be a promising move, albeit an unexpected one.

At its peak, Bethesda Game Studios was a powerhouse in the RPG genre. In 2020, leaked FTC documents from Microsoft revealed that Fallout 4 had sold 25 million units, with over 5 million units sold in its first week according to VGChartz. In 2023, Todd Howard announced that Skyrim had crossed the 60 million sales mark, boosted by numerous re-releases. However, Starfield, despite its launch on Game Pass and absence from PlayStation, has only managed to sell around three million units a year-and-a-half post-launch. Even its dedicated fanbase has expressed dissatisfaction with the game’s first expansion, Shattered Space.

This situation poses a significant challenge for Bethesda. With The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 still years away, how can this iconic RPG developer rekindle the magic for its fans? The answer may well lie in revisiting its past.

Rumors about the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remaster surfaced in September 2023, when leaked Microsoft documents hinted at several unannounced Bethesda projects, including this remaster. The buzz grew until January 2025, when a former Virtuos employee leaked further details, stirring debate among Elder Scrolls fans. The reveal finally happened last week, with over 6.4 million Google searches for ‘The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’ in the past week alone, a 713% increase. Bethesda’s reveal livestream peaked at over half a million viewers. Despite the leaks, over 600,000 people tuned in to see the remaster of the 19-year-old game. The demand was so intense that it crashed discount game key websites like CDKeys and slowed down Fanatical and Green Man Gaming. As of yesterday, Steam reported 125,000 concurrent players, and the game is currently the #1 best seller. The enthusiasm for Oblivion is as fiery as the flames of the Oblivion gates.

The message from players is clear: if you (re)build it, they will come. What better way to keep fans engaged during these long development periods than to invite them back to the mysterious isles of Morrowind or the post-apocalyptic landscapes of the East Coast? From a commercial perspective, this strategy is sound. While Bethesda’s core team works on new, long-term projects, partners like Virtuos can leverage existing blueprints to create remasters more quickly. These remasters tap into established audiences and introduce new generations to the rich worlds of Tamriel and the Fallout series.

Bethesda has previously revitalized its catalog successfully. During the first season of the Fallout TV show on Prime Video, Fallout 4 was discounted by up to 75%, accompanied by a timely next-gen update that included homages to the show. As a result, Fallout 4 sales surged over 7,500% in Europe alone, despite being nearly a decade old.

Looking back at Microsoft’s leaked Bethesda roadmap, a Fallout 3 remaster is slated to follow Oblivion two years later. Although the original timelines have shifted – Oblivion was initially planned for fiscal year 2022 – if the original intervals hold, a Fallout 3 remake might be expected in 2026, aligning with the second season of the Fallout TV show focused on New Vegas. Given the synergy between the show’s first season and Fallout 4, could Bethesda be planning a surprise New Vegas remake to coincide with the show’s second season? The shadow-drop of Oblivion suggests such a move isn’t beyond possibility.

The message from players is clear: if you (re)build it, they will come. However, if there’s one game in Bethesda’s catalog that truly deserves a remake, it’s The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Fans have long clamored for a Morrowind remake, with some even creating their own using Skyrim’s tools, like Skyblivion. Yet, Morrowind poses a unique challenge. It straddles the line between Bethesda’s old and new styles, featuring partial voice acting, text-based storytelling, no quest markers, and simplistic combat physics. While Virtuos managed to modernize some of Oblivion’s systems, remaking Morrowind requires a delicate balance. Too much modernization could strip away its unique charm, while retaining too many outdated mechanics might alienate new players.

When a studio becomes synonymous with a gaming sub-genre, the challenge is to innovate while retaining its audience. Rockstar Games has kept Grand Theft Auto fans engaged with GTA Online, funding the development of GTA 6. Bethesda, known for its expansive single-player worlds, has seen mixed results with multiplayer titles like Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76. However, the enthusiastic response to the Oblivion remaster shows that fans are eager to revisit Bethesda’s storied past. This isn’t a guaranteed success for every remaster, as evidenced by Rockstar’s GTA Definitive Editions, but breathing new life into classic titles could be the key for Bethesda to regain its footing in the modern RPG landscape.