When The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion launched in 2006, no one at Bethesda Game Studios could have predicted the lasting effect it would have, not just on the community that would continue to love it for decades to come, but on the studio itself. Bethesda Game Studios’ foundational open world role-playing game set the stage for nearly everything they have accomplished in the years since. Now Remastered, returning players and newcomers alike can experience the iconic RPG with a breathtaking new look. Get an in-depth look at all of the refinements in Oblivion Remastered, from visuals to gameplay and more.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Game Pass, PlayStation 5, and PC.
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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is the result of a collaboration between Bethesda Game Studios and their partners at Virtuos. This allowed Oblivion Remastered to remain faithful to the original vision, while giving it a visual overhaul and some modern refinements.
What’s New in the Remaster?
“Oblivion is the heart and soul of the Remaster,” says Virtuos Executive Producer Alex Mur-phy.It’s running underneath everything you see, powering all the gameplay and world logic. But to bring the Oblivion experience into 2025, it needed some modernizing, and that came in a few key places.
Stunning New Visuals
The Remaster uses Unreal Engine 5’s vast suite of tools to significantly enhance the visuals and performance. This means you'll experience stunning landscapes; more detailed character models and improved lip synching; and atmospheric effects that make the world of Cyrodiil feel more alive than ever.
Oblivion has been meticulously recreated from scratch. Characters, weapons, pieces of cheese, rocks, and even sweetrolls… If you can see it, it’s been remade. On top of that, the advanced real-time lighting system accurately simulates how light interacts with the environment, resulting in more realistic atmospheric effects.
It's not just the environments that have gotten the beautification treatment. The new character base meshes combined with the new lip sync technology further enhance the dialogue performance of characters, giving them much more expressive faces – even with races that don’t look as human, like Khajiits and Argonians.
Refined Gameplay
If you played the original, you’re going to recognize everything you see. But the teams at Bethesda Game Studio and Virtuos knew that gamers of today have certain expectations when it comes to an open world role-playing game.
Like... Sprinting! Sprinting was added to meet modern RPG standards. In fact, all character locomotion and models have been completely redone from scratch. Combat animations have been fully recreated, adding more flourish and separation between the upper and lower body. Combat also now includes sound effects, visual effects, and hit reactions, making it more engaging.
And if you love looking at the beautiful characters you create (or the horrifying monsters – we’ve seen your videos) third-person perspective has been overhauled as well. The third-person perspective now includes a crosshair and has been modernized to compare to Starfield, in terms of playability.
Quality-of-Life Improvements
In addition to refining gameplay, there have been tons of quality-of-life improvements to continue adding a modernized touch to 2006’s Game of the Year. The leveling system has been redesigned, inspired by both Oblivion and Skyrim, to offer the best of both worlds. Visual updates to UI and UX reflect contemporary gaming standards and hardware. New dialogue was also recorded for this Remaster. Where before some races shared voices, now each race represented in the game sounds unique, adding to the immersion.
And those are just three of the big QoL updates. There are dozens of others to help modernize and enhance your experience.
Cyrodiil Won’t Save Itself
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is a love letter to fans of the original game, bringing modernized graphics, refined gameplay, and numerous quality-of-life improvements.Oblivion is considered a classic for a reason. So many people have fond memories of playing the original decades ago. Now, those same players can return to Cyrodiil and experience the magic all over again alongside a new generation of Elder Scrolls fans. So, gear up, close shut the jaws of Oblivion and bring Tamriel back from the brink of destruction.
