If you haven’t been living under a rock, you probably know that a remake of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is likely on the way. Multiple insiders have numerous claims to that effect for a while now, and the latest word on the street is that the classic Bethesda RPG will launch in enhanced and remade fashion imminently- as soon as sometime before the end of April, with a shadow drop seemingly on the horizon. This close to its purported release, there’s obviously excitement in the air- but that excitement feels particularly palpable for this game in particular. Why? Because it feels like the best possible time for an Oblivion remake. Before we get to why that is the case, let’s first talk about what this alleged remake even is. If reports are to be believed, Virtuos has taken on the responsibility of taking Bethesda’s beloved 2006 open world RPG and remaking it in Unreal Engine 5, touting enhanced visuals, gameplay improvements, mechanical changes, and what have you. There’s much still yet that we obviously don’t know – since technically speaking the game’s very existence hasn’t even been officially confirmed yet – but by all accounts, Oblivion is set to receive quite the facelift. And if the remake is indeed coming soon – which, by the looks of it, it seemingly is – it’s hard not to be incredibly excited for it, for several reasons. There is, of course, the fact that the idea of returning to Oblivion is a highly appealing one. The 2006 original remains an unabashed masterpiece close to two decades on from its launch, but time has certainly taken its toll on it, because as universally acclaimed as Oblivion was back in the day (and for good reason, mind you), by today’s standards, it feels awfully rough and janky, to the extent that many might probably consider it too dated to be fun. That is exactly why a remake that gives the game a visual boost, modernizes its systems and mechanics, and brings its own set of quality-of-life upgrades should ideally allow the game’s core strengths to shine through as well as you’d expect from what is considered by many to be one o the best games of its time. Though the original Oblivion is not unplayable by any means, there can be no denying that its aged elements hold it back from getting back to the heights that it originally scaled, back when its jank and lack of polish were much more widely acceptable, and thus, easier to ignore. But that’s not the only reason to be excited for a potential (seemingly guaranteed) remake of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Perhaps the biggest reason of them all – and maybe even the most obvious one – is the fact that, well, it’s a new Elder Scrolls release. It’s been literally close to a decade and a half since The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim came out, and demand for the series to come out with a new release that isn’t yet another Skyrim re-release is at an all time high- as it feels like it has been for an endless age at this point. Sadly, it doesn’t look like the for the The Elder Scrolls 6 is going to end anytime in the near future. It’s been under two years since Bethesda Game Studios wrapped up Starfield and went into proper production on the next Elder Scrolls, but with Starfield post-launch content still demanding a bunch of the studio’s attention, and given Bethesda Game Studios’ knack for taking its sweet time with torturously long development cycles, it’s safe to assume that it’s still going to be several years before we actually have The Elder Scrolls 6 in our hands. That, in fact, is something that Bethesda and Microsoft themselves have tried to make abundantly clear on no few occasions. So with chances of a new Elder Scrolls title in the immediate future lying somewhere between zilch and nada, after what has already been an enormous gap since the series’ last mainline release, it goes without saying that fans are desperate for anything that will give them that Elder Scrolls taste that few other franchises (if any) can replicate. A remake or remaster of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion obviously wouldn’t be a new game by definition, but it would be a great excuse to return to Tamriel, not to mention the fact that like pretty much any other remake, it could also easily feel like a completely fresh (or fresh enough) experience, whether you’re returning to Oblivion after a long time or playing it for the first time ever. In that sense, the (as of now hypothetical) remake could very well have its cake and it eat, too. Xbox’s first party portfolio has already had a pretty solid 2025 so far, having released the likes of Avowed and South of Midnight out into the world, both of which have garnered their fair share of acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and with games such as DOOM: The Dark Ages and The Outer Worlds 2 coming up later, that pipeline looks like it’s going to keep chugging out exciting new content over the coming weeks and months. And yet, it would be fair to say that few titles could match the level of excitement that a remake of Oblivion would generate- even if Microsoft does choose to unceremoniously shadow drop it out of nowhere, without any marketing or fanfare (to be fair, if there’s any franchise that’s big enough to be able to pull that off without any major repercussions, Elder Scrolls would be it). There is the obvious question of just how significant of an upgrade this new version of Oblivion is going to be. Reports up to this point have seemingly not been able to agree on whether it’s a remaster or a remake, but the more recent information certainly seems to suggest that the game is getting more than jut a simple visual touch up. As mentioned previously, Oblivion is allegedly set to bring new and improved gameplay mechanics and quality of life changes to the table, from a new stamina system and redone blocking to UI overhauls and more. On top of that, yes, it is also obviously receiving graphics upgrades, with the jump there seemingly set to be a pretty notable one. If that is the sort of Oblivion remake we are in for – one that straddles the line between faithfully recreating the original while also making necessary and (hopefully) smart changes and improvements where needed – there’s every reason for Elder Scrolls fans to be excited. No, it’s not a new numbered entry in the series, and no, it’s not Bethesda Game Studios that is developing it (at least if the rumour mill isn’t wrong), but it is for all intents and purposes a new Elder Scrolls series, and one that, by virtue of being a remake of a certified classic, we can also be pretty sure is going at the very least be good and worth your time. Obviously, there’s the chance that things go wrong and the Oblivion remake explodes spectacularly upon impact (or that it doesn’t even really exist, which honestly seems far too unlikely), but chances are that we won’t have to deal with that kind of disappointment. Or at least that’s what the eternally optimistic yet starved Elder Scrolls fan in me says. Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.