A knight from Oblivion standing in front of TES 6 background.

I am a huge fan of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and have been since I was quite young. It was my introduction to Bethesda’s style of game as well as the first-person RPG genre. Oblivion also served as the bedrock of my cringe-worthy childhood YouTube channel, but the less said about that, the better. I have lots of fond memories of sitting at my tiny desk in front of my big blocky white monitor and loading up Oblivion, hearing the music blast through the tinny speakers, and feeling immediately excited.

So, it will come as no surprise that I am excited about the rumored Oblivion UE5 remake coming from Virtuos Studios, a support developer I hadn’t heard of until the Cyberpunk 2077 2.2 update. While I’m not terribly fond of UE5 – as I believe it makes everything look like a photorealistic glossy congealed mess – I am keen to jump back into Oblivion to relive my childhood memories. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I am more excited about this unannounced remake of a game from 2006 than I am about The Elder Scrolls 6.

The Oblivion Remake Rumors Have Me More Excited Than TES 6

It Somehow Feels More Real

Promo art of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion featuring an armored knight with the fires of Oblivion behind him. The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Gate Remade with Unreal Engine 5. Character bedecked in golden armor and weaponry in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Promo art of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion featuring an armored knight with the fires of Oblivion behind him. The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Gate Remade with Unreal Engine 5. Character bedecked in golden armor and weaponry in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.

It is important to clarify that the rumored Oblivion remake remains unannounced. Initially, Bethesda was going to release a remaster of both Oblivion and Fallout 3, as revealed by leaked FTC documents during the controversial acquisition of Activision Blizzard. However, as that never transpired, it was claimed that a full-blown remake of Oblivion was coming, with various sources seemingly proving its existence. I’m always a skeptic when it comes to rumors, but, as much as I’ve tried not to get too drawn in by it all, I can’t help but feel a little giddy.

What has surprised me though is how quickly my excitement for this unannounced Oblivion remake superseded my ever-dwindling excitement for the upcoming TES 6. When it was initially announced during the now regrettable showcase, I was overjoyed, imagining how Bethesda could follow up one of the most immersive fantasy RPGs of all time. However, it has been six years since its reveal, and I am growing tired of waiting for Xbox to give details about TES 6 and its seemingly nonexistent release date.

The Elder Scrolls 6 no longer feels real to me. It’s not that Bethesda has taken too much time to announce it, although that is a huge factor. Rather, I’m struggling to imagine what TES 6 would even look like at this point. Bethesda hasn’t developed a fantasy RPG in some time, sticking closely to the sci-fi first-person shooter genre instead. That isn’t inherently an issue, but it also means that I have no idea whether it is even capable of making something like Skyrim anymore, especially when Starfield is supposedly the best it can do in this next-gen era.

The Oblivion Remake Is Building On A Better Foundation Than TES 6

Bethesda’s Game Design Has Changed Dramatically

The player walking towards a bridge while wearing armor with a forest in the background in Skyblivion.

This has led me to believe that the original Oblivion experience, warts and all, offers a far better foundation for a modern AAA experience than Bethesda’s current output. Not only is Bethesda so far removed from its glory days, but, more importantly, its design philosophy has changed exponentially. When I look at Bethesda’s recent offerings, especially the critically panned Starfield, I find it hard to believe that TES 6 could grow from those foundations.

It’s not just the endless loading screens and meaningless choices that make Starfield feel somehow last-gen in comparison to Oblivion, but rather its complete lack of immersion. Oblivion, as streamlined as it was when compared to even its predecessors, felt like it was doing something different with its dynamic, albeit hilarious, NPC interactions, multi-layered quest design, and intriguing worldbuilding. To put it simply, Oblivion made me feel like a hero exploring a real world in a way that Starfield simply couldn’t, even with its hundreds of planets.

Oblivion’s underlying game design, as rigid and often buggy as it can feel, is a far better foundation to build a AAA remake from than Starfield or even Fallout 76 and Fallout 4 are for The Elder Scrolls 6.

Oblivion’s underlying game design, as rigid and often buggy as it can feel, is a far better foundation to build a AAA remake from than Starfield or even Fallout 76 and Fallout 4 are for The Elder Scrolls 6. If Bethesda were to take everything it has learned from Starfield and create TES 6 from that, it would likely end up an uninteresting, unimmersive, and deeply unsatisfying experience. However, Virtuos has one of the best RPGs to build from, a game that set the bar high for immersive roleplaying experiences that often even outmatches Skyrim.

The Oblivion Remake Has The Potential To Fix Its Greatest Flaws

It Is Rumored To Be A Full-Blown Remake

The player looking at a ruined building in Skyblivion.

The Oblivion remake still has a lot of work to do as, no matter how innovative the original Oblivion is, it is still a nearly two-decade-old game. Its animations are janky and often unpleasant, its combat is shallow, its armor skills make no sense, and its dialogue, as hilarious and often truly bizarre as it is, needs redoing. Virtuos also hasn’t really proven itself as a developer capable of handling such a big project. While it has worked on some of the biggest and best games in a supporting role, it has never created a full-blown remake like this.

It isn’t that I don’t have faith in Virtuos, as I do feel like it likely has the talent to pull something like this off. However, considering it’s competing with a lovingly crafted overhaul mod that is not only recreating all of Oblivion within Skyrim but adding new music and expanding mechanics, it’ll need more than simply updating the visuals and calling it a day. Luckily, a report by MP1st has claimed that Virtuos is modernizing every aspect of the original experience to make it the definitive experience.

That is what has me more excited about the Oblivion remake than TES 6. Because, as much as I really love Oblivion, it can be really hard to go back to it now. A remake that not only improves the visuals but also makes it play as I remember the original game, not as it actually is, would be a truly wonderful thing. Being able to jump back into Oblivion in a way that doesn’t tarnish its legacy, but rather elevates it, would be a dream come true, and something that I fear TES 6 will never be capable of.