Summary
- The rumours of an Oblivion remake persist, despite no official announcement.
- While it had seemed a sure thing at first, doubt is beginning to creep in about whether it’s really happening.
- Only time will tell if the believers or doubters prove correct.
Where is the Oblivion remake? This question has been on the lips and in the hearts of many a fan of the Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, who expected at least an announcement of the rumoured remake by now.
The rumour mill has been in a constant turn since court documents for the Federal Trade Commission’s unsuccessful challenge to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard mentioned the existence of a remake of Oblivion.
Oblivion Remake – a Dragon Break?
Since then, rumours have suggested the remake is being developed by Virtous, a Singaporean developer that specialises in ports and remasters. The remake is supposedly constructed on Unreal Engine 5 (UE5), rather than Bethesda’s proprietary Creation Engine. Considering a third-party developer is developing the game, the use of an industry-standard engine makes sense.
NateTheHate, a generally reliable leaker, revealed the game had begun as a remaster but eventually grew into a full remake, and is expected to release before June. There were other rumours from less reliable sources that the remake would be shadow-dropped “imminently”, but several of these reported release dates have since passed.
It’s important to note that despite supposedly releasing in the near future, the remake hasn’t even been announced. We know that it existed at one point because of Microsoft’s court documents, but everything in excess of that fact is conjecture or unconfirmed. As a result of this cycle of disappointment, fans of Oblivion are beginning to doubt the game’s existence.
A recent Reddit thread by Serithraz seems to rub salt in the wound, posting an image of Wreck-It Ralph denying the existence of the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and Oblivion remake. I’m of a firm belief that all three are real, but there are certainly some within the community that have begun decrying the existence of a remake.
“Give me a date and a time and a time after that date, we aren’t clowns, and you’re just falling for rumours,” comments EmeraldTwilight009. “Listen, I have hope for a remake but the FTC leak also included a Fallout 3 remaster which no one says is shadow-dropping in April, this isn’t the silver bullet people think it is,” adds Openil, diplomatically.
The number of comments with negative karma on the aforementioned thread and similar threads points to the ongoing turmoil in the Oblivion community. There are some who wholeheartedly believe they’ll have their hands on a UE5 version of Oblivion before the summer is through, while others don’t want to get their hopes up and have them dashed against the rocks of Niben Bay.
Only time will tell which faction is correct.
- Released
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March 20, 2006
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence