Summary
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered’s shadow drop was met with massive success, and within a day of release, it already had 200 mods and counting. In six days, that number jumped to 1,000 with no signs of stopping. Naturally, comparisons arose betweenSkyrimandOblivion Remastered’s modding scenes, with many curious if the new Bethesda title will outshine its legendary predecessor. Despite the encouraging start, however, there are multiple factors stacked againstOblivion Remastered’s modding future, with an uphill battle in front of it that may very well prove a difficult climb.
Skyrim’s modding communityhas a legendary status in the space, boasting over 100,000 individual mods for the Special Edition version and 70,000 mods for the original. This means thatTES 5has been crowned the modding king twice over, taking both the number one and number two spots. Whether or notOblivion Remasteredcan come anywhere close to this level is still up in the air.
Oblivion Remastered Mods May Never Come Close to Competing with Skyrim
On the surface,Oblivion Remastered’s modding future looks rosy, but the reality might be a bit more complicated. Despite an upward trend of mod releases, the game’s mod catalog will likely start experiencing a stall in the next few months for a multitude of reasons.
Less Need for Mods
A key part of the universal praise surroundingOblivion Remasteredis that the game has a level of polish that’s arguably rare to see in a Bethesda title. While theiconicOblivionjankis still very much there, that’s more a deliberate choice than an oversight. AnElder Scrollstitle without jank wouldn’t feel like anElder Scrollstitle at all. This means mods targeted at fixing bugs and improving performance inOblivion Remasteredare not as necessary as they were forSkyrim.
Additionally, a large chunk of mods made for any game are aimed at improving the graphics and visuals;Skyrimstands as proof.Oblivion Remastereddoesn’t have that problem because visual fidelity is Unreal Engine 5’s strong suit, and the game takes full advantage of it. Of course, that isn’t to say visual mods won’t exist, asReShades are among the most popularOblivion Remasteredmodcategories and prove otherwise, but there is less of a demand for them.
No Official Mod Support
Bethesda has confirmed that there will beno official mod support forOblivion Remastered. No Creation Kit, no Creation Club, and no in-game support. While this doesn’t necessarily prevent mod authors from creating massive DLC-sized land mods or overhauls like they have done inSkyrim, it does make it less accessible, which will inevitably result in fewer mods overall.
Split Fanbase
As time passes and fans get familiar with thepros and cons ofOblivion Remastered, the player base will likely split into two parts: a group that prefers the Remastered version and a group that prefers the original. The mod authors will likely follow, and the output for Remastered mods will naturally slow down.
It could, of course, be argued that this is similar to the split between the originalSkyrim, now calledOldrim, and the newerSkyrim Special Edition. Akey difference withSkyrim’s two editionscompared toOblivion’s is that the Special Edition was tailor-made to make modding easier, resulting in near-unanimous migration of all modders to it;Oblivion Remastereddoesn’t offer the same.
Initial Boom Is Deceiving
Within hours ofOblivion Remastered’s release, it was discovered that some mods from the originalOblivionin ESP format could be copied and pasted into the mod folder, and they would work. This was possible becauseOblivion Remastered is a near one-to-one copy in terms of gameplay, and some gameplay mods that worked for the first game worked for the new one as well. However, there is only a limited number of mods that fall under this category, and most of them have already been published as new mods. With time, this pre-made stockpile will run out.
Lots of “Filler” Mods
It’s a known fact that some mod authors aim to flood a game with new, low-quality mods to game the system. It’s an easy way to earnNexus Mods’ local currency, Donation Points (DP), without having to put in too much effort. If two games are made with the same engine, chances are that mods are transferable between them to a degree. These mod authors aim for this niche, flooding the site with so-called “filler” mods in hopes of getting the first-mover advantage. As a game gets older, these mod authors move on to newer titles—Oblivion Remasteredwon’t be any different.
Stubborn Modders Could Still Bring Oblivion Remastered the Crown
One of the biggest thingsOblivion Remasteredmodding has going for it is that it still uses the originalGamebryo Engine underneath Unreal Engine 5. Gamebryo is the engine that the originalOblivion2006 was developed in. Unreal Engine 5 exists as a wrapper on top of Gamebryo, handling graphics and audio while leaving gameplay alone. This is also the reason why almost all bugs and glitches that existed in the original title can be replicated inOblivion Remastered; the original engine is still the same.
There are aspects whereOblivion RemasteredtrumpsSkyrim, at least to some fans, but the chances of it coming out ahead ofTES 5in modding are absurdly low. That said, there is nothing a dedicated modding community cannot achieve;Skyrimitself being the best example. If the community is passionate enough, and enough people care about the game, which is not outside the realm of possibility,Oblivion Remasteredcould still end up being a more popular title thanSkyrimfor modders.
