As the games industry talks more about preserving history, CEO of retro remaster studio says Bethesda giving Skyblivion modders Oblivion Remastered keys is “exactly what I’d like to see more of”

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Without any prior announcement, Oblivion Remastered came out last week. However, Bethesda made it clear that they hold no grudge towards a band of fans who’ve been developing an unofficial Skyblivion remake – a stance that the CEO of Nightdive Studios, a company known for retro remakes, appreciates and encourages more of.

The fan-created undertaking known as Skyblivion, which aims to recreate the game Oblivion using Skyrim’s engine, has been under development for 13 years. Although it may be seen as a competitor to the original game, it was recently disclosed that Bethesda supplied the entire mod team with keys for the Oblivion Remastered version. They’ve also made it clear they have no plans to halt our project.

In a chat with GamesIndustry.biz, Nightdive Studios’ CEO Stephen Kick commends Bethesda for their latest action regarding game preservation. Nightdive Studios, known for remastering numerous older games such as Doom 1 and 2, The Thing, and others, finds Bethesda’s move to be praiseworthy.

As a passionate fan, I strongly advocate for a collaborative approach between developers and publishers when it comes to preservation. This includes actively engaging with fans who’ve shown dedication by utilizing their limited resources to make these games accessible once more. The current situation serves as a shining example of how valuable it is to embrace the community in such efforts.

He expresses his agreement, stating that it’s precisely what he wants to witness more of. Notably, this is an area where Nightdive excels greatly.

Whenever there’s a chance to start a fresh game, our initial step is usually to locate the community who’ve been instrumental in making it enjoyable so far. We then engage with them, collaborate, or sometimes even recruit some of those team members directly.

Bethesda, although not primarily focusing on game preservation, adopted a strategy somewhat reminiscent to that with the large fan-created Fallout: London expansion mod for Fallout 4. They even hired two of its developers directly. It’s evident that the studio closely monitors projects like this and recognizes their value as well.

Regarding the project known as Skyblivion, its main developer, Rebelzize, communicated to GamesRadar+ that the unveiling of Oblivion Remastered doesn’t affect their existing plans. He expressed his belief that the project has already provided numerous benefits beyond what was initially expected. Despite this, Skyblivion is still targeting a release in the current year. Rebelzize further stated that they will continue to address bugs and create additional content after the launch of the project.

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2025-05-01 15:10