Oblivion Remake to Drop Any Day Now, Breaking 32-Year TES Tradition

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Summary

  • The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake is reportedly releasing in April 2025.
  • Industry insider Jeff Grubb believes the game will be shadow-dropped.
  • The new version of Oblivion is rumored to be something between a remake and a remaster.

As a hardcore gamer, I can’t help but get excited about the whispers of a reboot for one of my all-time favorites – The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion! It seems like this classic is set to make a comeback around April 2025, if the latest scoop from a trusted gaming insider is anything to go by. What really piques my interest, though, is the hint that this remake might just shake up a thirty-year-old series tradition! Can’t wait to see what they have in store for us, fellow fans!

In September 2023, the first solid hint that a revamped edition of “Oblivion” was underway surfaced online, as part of a “ZeniMax Management Forecast” presentation unintentionally released by the Federal Trade Commission during their investigation into Microsoft’s activities related to the impending acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This leaked presentation, dated July 2020, characterized the game as a remaster. A few months prior, a less reliable source had suggested that the “Oblivion” project might also be a remake and was allegedly being developed by Virtuos—a well-known third-party development studio in contemporary times.

According to Jeff Grubb, during Giant Bomb’s The Power Block livestream on April 7, it was revealed that the long-anticipated remake of Oblivion is almost ready for release, with a tentative date set for April 2025. This announcement comes as the second hint in recent times suggesting that the Oblivion remake may be launching in April.

Oblivion Remake Is Reportedly Breaking 32-Year TES Tradition

Grubb hinted that he’s unsure when exactly the anticipated remake might be released, implying it could happen soon. However, he seemed quite certain about how the game is expected to debut. According to his sources, ZeniMax (or Microsoft) may go for a unique strategy called a “shadow drop,” which is unusual for this franchise. If true, this would be the first time an Elder Scrolls game skips a traditional pre-release announcement, deviating from the conventional marketing cycles that have been in place since the 1993 unveiling of TES: Arena, a tradition spanning over 32 years.

As a gamer, I’ve been eagerly anticipating spin-offs from The Elder Scrolls series like Blades, Legends, and Castles, all of which were officially announced before their release. However, it seems unusual that the Oblivion remake is bucking this trend. Maybe Microsoft doesn’t feel a modernized version of a game so iconic from the mid-2000s requires much marketing. In fact, they’ve had success in the past by releasing smaller games with less (or no) IP recognition under the radar, like Hi-Fi Rush.

Based on earlier announcements, the new take on Oblivion is expected to be a blend of remake and remaster. It appears that Virtuos will utilize Unreal Engine 5 for visuals, but they’ll continue to rely on the original Gamebryo engine for certain underlying functions. There have been whispers about modifications to core gameplay features such as blocking, stealth, and stamina recently. The Oblivion remake might launch simultaneously on PC and Xbox Series X/S initially, but given Microsoft’s expanding multi-platform publishing approach, it could potentially become available on PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 as well.

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2025-04-07 23:06