In a plot twist more surprising than a Daedric Prince cameo, Bethesda just flew out the Skyblivion team.
Skyblivion is a fan-made remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, built inside Skyrim’s engine. It’s been cooking since 2012. Developed by volunteers under TESRenewal, it’s a complete overhaul of Oblivion, not just a facelift.
If you’re thinking this sounds like competition to the Elder Scrolls IV Remastered, you’re actually wrong. Bethesda didn’t send a cease-and-desist, they sent game keys and plane tickets.
Instead of shutting them down after releasing Oblivion Remastered in April, Bethesda handed the Skyblivion team free keys to the new remaster and flew them to HQ.
From cease and desist to first class flights
The creators invited the fan team in person to meet the official developers. Lead dev Rebelzize called the reception “absolutely unreal.”
This was no empty PR move. Bethesda gave them a tour, chatted game dev, and showed actual excitement for the fan remake. That’s more support than most fans give their own cousins’ Etsy shops.
Both projects now exist side by side, and honestly, it’s a buffet. Oblivion Remastered keeps things close to the original with the same quests, new paint. It runs on Unreal Engine 5 but still uses the old Gamebryo base.
Meanwhile, Skyblivion rewires everything from the ground up: rebuilt environments, added lore, better combat, and full Skyrim mod support. Turns out, two cakes is a viable business strategy.
The Elder Scrolls franchise is still dominating. Oblivion Remastered became the third best-selling U.S. game of 2025 within one week.
Bethesda, now under Microsoft’s wing, seems happy to lean into its modding legacy while keeping eyes on Elder Scrolls VI.
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