The Oblivion Remaster is real, it’s here, and it’s actually a lot bigger—file size and ambition-wise—than we were expecting. This isn’t just a conversion to a 16:9 aspect ratio and a “remastered version” upgrade listing on Oblivion’s store page. This thing is a whole $50 game, 115GB download, with a visual and interface overhaul that I’m surprised Bethesda didn’t try to bill as a full “remake” instead.
Here’s everything else you’ll want to know about Oblivion Remastered, from its price, features, visual upgrades, new content, and more.
Oblivion Remastered release date
When is the Oblivion Remastered release date?
Oblivion Remastered launched on April 22, 2025. Bethesda announced the launch during its reveal stream on the same day which was supposed to be one of those “and it’s out now!” surprises. It would have been, if not for the months of leaks leading up to the reveal.
Oblivion Remastered is available on Steam for $50/£50 and through Game Pass. It’s $60/£60 for the deluxe edition with exclusive armor, weapons, and horse armor. Yes, Bethesda really is selling horse armor again.
What’s included in the Oblivion Remastered?
Oblivion Remastered includes:
- The base game (with all the updates listed below)
- All add-ons and DLCs from the original game (Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine included)
- Deluxe edition: new quests for unique Akatosh & Mehrunes Dagon armours, weapons, and horse armour
Oblivion Remastered changes
What’s up with the visual update for Oblivion?
The visual update in Oblivion Remastered is actually pretty big. As well it should be, for that 115GB file size. During the reveal, Bethesda and Virtuous explained how Unreal Engine 5 is powering a lot of the beautiful lighting and other visual updates.
Here are some of the visual updates in the remaster:
- New real-time lighting system
- New character models and landscapes and “every single asset redesigned from scratch”
- Lots of new character and combat animations
- New lip-sync technology for NPC voice lines
- More ambient details like insects and fish
- Redesigned menus and interfaces
What gameplay changes were made in Oblivion Remastered?
During the reveal, Bethesda and remaster developers Virtuous explained that “We think of the Oblivion game engine as the brain and Unreal 5 as the body. The brain drives all the world logic and gameplay and the body brings to life the experience that players have loved for almost 20 years.”
What that seems to mean, practically, is that Virtuous spent time modernizing certain old Oblivion features but left others largely unchanged to fit with the spirit of the game. So far as we can tell, it really is Oblivion under the hood in there. Here’s what’s changed (and not) in the remaster:
|
Feature |
Remastered |
Unchanged |
|---|---|---|
|
Levelling |
Now inspired by Oblivion and Skyrim levelling systems |
Level skills by using related actions (bunny hopping for Acrobatics confirmed) |
|
Third-person camera |
Updated with reticle and functionality |
Row 1 – Cell 2 |
|
Lockpicking |
New visuals |
Same old difficult minigame |
|
Persuasion |
New visuals |
Same weird minigame |
|
NPC dialogue |
New voice recordings for different races |
That old awkward conversation timing stays |
|
Sprinting |
You can sprint, wow! |
Row 5 – Cell 2 |
Oblivion Remastered mods, cheats, and specs
Will mods and cheats work in Oblivion Remastered?
Oblivion Remastered does have a command console that you can open with ~ and many of the old Oblivion console commands seem to work.
Mods are a slightly different story. Given how much of Oblivion seems to be intact beneath the visual changes, modding Oblivion Remastered may still be pretty powerful. Your old Oblivion mods won’t work out of the box though and modders will have to at least make some adjustments to get them working again. We’ll see just how big of an adjustment that winds up being.
What are the system specs for Oblivion Remastered?
The full Oblivion system specs call for a pretty hefty 125GB of storage space on your drive, though the download itself is 115GB on Steam.
Here are the recommended specs:
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, Intel Core i5 10600K
- Memory: 32 GB RAM
- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT or Nvidia RTX 2080
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 125 GB available space
But is it still Oblivion?
Yeah, it’s the same old clunker under there—rejoice!
Ah, yes. Now it feels like home from r/ElderScrolls
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