Bethesda giving out Oblivion Remastered keys to Skyblivion modders is "exactly what I'd like to see more of," says CEO of retro remaster studio as devs reflect on game preservation

A screenshot of the Adoring Fan seen in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered.
(Image credit: Bethesda, Virtuos)

After absolutely no official buildup, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Oblivion Remastered was released last week, but Bethesda made it very clear that it had no ill will towards a group of fans who've been working on the unofficial Skyblivion remake, in a move the CEO of retro remake specialist Nightdive Studios would "like to see 💯more of."

Skyblivion – the fan-made project that set out to rebuild Oblivion in Skyrim's engine – has been a work-in-progress for 13 years. Although it could be considered a rival for the official game, it was revealed last week that Bethesda had provided the entire mod team with keys for Oblivion Remastered, and "made it clear that they have no intention of shutting 🌟down our project."

in an interview about game preservation, Stephen Kick, CEO of Nightdive Studios, which has produced remasters for loads of older games including Doom 1 and 2, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Thing, and mor﷽e, is very complimentary of Bethesda's recent gestur⛄e.

In general, he believes that when it com💯es to preservation, devs and publishers should work closely with the fans who "have done what they can with whatever limited resources they have to make them accessible again," and this case is clearly a positive example of the c🍬ommunity being embraced.

"I think that's exactly what I'd like to see more of, and that's something th🔥at we do extensively on the Nightdive side," he says of Bethesda giving the Skyblivion team copies of the offꦜicial remaster.

"Whenever we have an opportunity to do🍎 a new game, the first thing we do is go and seek out the community that's made it playable to this point, and either consult with them, contract them, or, in some cases, even hire some of those team members," he continues.

While less about game preservation, Bethesda took a somewhat similar approach with the massive fan-made Fallout: London expansion mod for Fallout 4, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:actually hiring two of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:developers behind it. The studio clearly keeps close tabs on fan projects like this, and knows their 💝worth, too.

In the case of Skyblivion, its lead developer, Rebelzize, previously told GamesRadar+ that the release of Oblivion Remastered "changes nothing about our plans," with him feeling that the "project has already paid off tenfo꧃ld." Skyblivion is still eyeing up a launch later this year, with Rebelzize adding: "We will keep working on bug fixes and the DLC after the release."

If you've been playing Bethesda's remastered RPG, be sure to check out our guide to Oblivion Remastered's skill system.

Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist๊ for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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