It's been an excellent year for Oblivion fans – less so for mod developers, however. I'm not sure what it is that's tempting people to return to acclaimed and amazingly janky RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion almost 20 years on, but this year we've already gotten a basically flawless spiritual successor and a release date for a fanmade remake in Skyrim's engine. Unfortunately, however, Bethesda seems intent on beating that team to the punch. Rumors of an official Oblivion remake have swirled for years, but now, thanks to mistakenly uploaded images on the website of Virtuos Games – an outsourcing studio that's done work for every major player in the industry – we finally have hard confirmation that it's real.
…And honestly, it doesn't look great.
At the time it came out, Oblivion's colorful, high-fantasy aesthetic was a breath of fresh air, breaking up the muddy, brown-and-bloom color schemes of its contemporaries. The remake seems to have abandoned this entirely, muting the palette and making it look more generic than ever – and when remakes essentially live and die on their looks, this is not a great move.
More concerning is the impact it might have on Skyblivion, the fanmade Oblivion remake (that looks excellent). With two competing remakes of the same game releasing in the same year, some worry that Bethesda might issue Skyblivion a cease and desist, effectively erasing years of hard work from their dedicated fans in one fell swoop. That's to say nothing of what new monetization scheme Bethesda is bound to crowbar in. Never forget that Oblivion was the game that started microtransactions. Dark things are afoot in Cyrodiil once again – but this time, the looming threat of paid mods might be worse than any Daedra.
Previously:
• The goofy sequel to Oblivion I didn't know I needed
• Sound of Oblivion
• Oblivion NPC conversation at Central Park
• 'NPC Archivist' proves that games aren't all that unrealistic
