The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remaster has how been subject to a leaked list of supposed details. According to Mp1st, the information was allegedly revealed by a former employee of Virtuos, a video game support studio. Microsoft declined to comment when approached by IGN. Mp1st claims that Virtuos has rebuilt the beloved Bethesda open-world RPG using Unreal Engine 5, pointing to a significant overhaul rather than a basic remaster. Alleged gameplay updates include changes to Stamina, Sneak, Blocking, Archery, Hit Reaction, and the HUD.
News of an Oblivion remaster first surfaced in 2023 during the FTC vs. Microsoft trial over the Activision Blizzard acquisition, which revealed several unannounced Bethesda games planned for future release. The use of the term ‘remaster’ became the de facto expectation for a less comprehensive rebuild.
However, the Mp1st leaks and the images found on the Virtuos website indicate that the supposed remaster is far more of a supposed remake.
What the Leaks Contain
Virtuos quickly plugged the leak. However, three images were retrieved before the company could do so.
TechStomper’s Keegan Bourke combed the Wayback Machine to confirm as much of the alleged details as possible. There were 18 total uploaded image file names visible on the Wayback Machine, only one image was scraped by the Wayback Machine.
Six of these are JPGfiles labelled ‘img-elder-scrolls-iv-XXX’ – ranging from tiny thumbnails of 450B (18×10) in size, to 187kB in size. The largest of these still contains the image that has circulated widely.
Twelve are labelled ‘img-oblivion-trailer-thumbnail-XXX’. These PNG images range in size from 18×10 to 1024×574. The inner hall screenshot discovered and shared widely is also 1024×574.
Two other images were also leaked – supposedly showing ‘Deluxe’ Editions. The images shared to Imgur are of extremely low resolution, and look rather crude for a professional marketing material. But if you assume they are real, they suggest that the Oblivion Remaster will release on Xbox Series X|S, PC and PlayStation 5. Interestingly they also suggest that there will be horse armour DLC that will come with the deluxe edition.
This particular leak came out after various tweets from the user “Detective Seeds“. He claims based on his sources that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remaster will be announced and released on the week of April 21st, after the Elder Scrolls Online event. Whether or not his information proves to be accurate is yet to be seen, however with these leaks the week before it’s not a stretch to believe that his sources are reliable.
Questions Remaining
There’s no question that everyone that enjoys this franchise is excited for the release of the Oblivion Remaster. However, there are three main questions that are left to be answered.
What is the release date?
One of the most important questions regarding any game release is when will the game itself release. It’s claimed by Detective Seeds to be shadow dropped on the week of the 21st of April, but we will still need to wait for official confirmation. However, based on the leaked images we can at least be guaranteed that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered will release in 2025.
When will the game be announced?
Based on the fact that the leaked images state that this game will have a 2025 release, the official announcement of the game is still yet to come. with the images all being uploaded by mistake on the 15th of April however, it suggests that the announcement itself will be quite soon.
What will happen to the Skyblivion Mod?
Skyblivion is a fan made Skyrim mod that has been in the works for a number of years aimed at recreating the entirety of Oblivion with updated graphics and locations. However, with the leaks of the Oblivion Remaster coming to fruition it seems that this project may soon be dead in the water as most people won’t really be too interested in a mod that aims to recreate what a remaster already has.
No response from them has been made in the past 24 hours since the leaks came out, but the information about the development of this remaster has been out for the past two years so surely it won’t come as a massive shock to the team.