About

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, commonly referred to as Oblivion Remastered, is a 2025 remastered version of the 2006 role-playing video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, co-developed by French studio Virtuos and Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. Images of the game were leaked online in mid-April 2025. The game was "shadow dropped" on April 22nd, 2025.

History

April 15th Leak

On April 15th, 2025, Redditor^[1] u/Taurnil uploaded two images and a screenshot of several files named "Elder Scrolls IV" allegedly found on the Virtuos gaming studio website.^[1] The leaked content included screenshots of the game and images showcasing a remaster or a remake of the role-playing video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, yet to have been announced by Bethesda, compared against the original 2006 game. The post (seen below) amassed more than 6,900 upvotes and 1,100 comments in a few hours.

The Eurogamer^[2] gaming tabloid wrote an article on the same day about other fans of the game sharing leaked images discovered in Virtuos's servers, claiming Bethesda's current plan is to "shadow drop the game next week (third week of April 2025) on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, including via Xbox Game Pass."

Announcement and Release

On April 25th, 2025, Bethesda Softworks posted a reveal video for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered on its official YouTube^[5] channel. The video accumulated over 773,000 views in less than six hours (shown below).

On the same day, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered was released for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S (announcement post^[6] shown below).

Gameplay and Features

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is built on Unreal Engine 5. The game maintains the visual direction of the original while featuring updated graphics and animations. Several gameplay systems of the original game have been updated, including the leveling system and combat, as well as the ability to spring being introduced.

While new lines of dialogue have been recorded for the game, the original dialogues that spawned Oblivion NPC Dialogue Parodies were kept in the game.

Online Presence

April 15th, 2025, Leak

Online reaction to the leaks varied from initial skepticism to enthusiasm. For instance, on April 15th, 2025, Redditor^[3] u/Till_Complex posted a montage of several animated characters praying in a church, captioning "Us after seeing the Oblivion Remake leaks." The post (seen below) received roughly 136 upvotes and 49 comments in a few hours.

On the same day, YouTuber^[4] JuiceHead posted some of the evidence and leaked footage of the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remaster or Remake, amassing more than 17,000 views and 1,800 likes in a few hours.

Release

The unexpected release of the game in April 2025 inspired a viral response on social media, with the initial reactions to the game being overwhelmingly positive. On X, users shared various jokes and memes about the release: for example, on April 22nd, 2025, X^[7] user @TheCumpound posted a Died / Born / Welcome Back meme about the game being released one day after the death of Pope Francis. The post (shown below) garnered over 1,900 reposts and 29,000 likes in one day.

The remastered appearance of Adoring Fan, a humorous character and a popular meme from the original game, became a subject of several viral posts. For example, a post by X^[8] user @FLEEKAZOID gained over 470 reposts and 11,000 likes in one day (shown below).

Users also shared humorous gameplay interactions from the remastered game, including awkward dialogue between NPC characters, a famous feature of the original game (example^[9] shown below).

we’re so back guys pic.twitter.com/EZE12CGJSe

— Neb | 🏳️‍🌈 (@NebsGoodTakes) April 22, 2025

Search Interest

External References