2006’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion returned to fans by way of a very impressive remaster earlier this year. But it won’t be the only chance you’ll have to revisit the lush forests and bustling cities of Cyrodiil. The colossal mod project Skyblivion is expected to arrive this year as well, and a new trailer not only promises a different take on reimaging the nearly 20-year old RPG, but also some wild expansions of the map.
As you might’ve guessed from the name, Skyblivion is an all-volunteer effort to recreate Oblivion within Skyrim’s engine. The project kicked off in 2012, summoning help from all corners of the internet to build what is one of the most ambitious mod projects out there. The mod includes every weapon, armor set, quest, location, and NPC from the original game, plus some new additions. Check out the latest trailer here:
Crazy stuff! Perhaps what’s most impressive is that the folks behind it have not only collectively rebuilt an entire game in a different one’s engine, but that they’re going so far as to expand and diversify the experience. I was especially struck by the additions Skyblivion makes to the city of Anvil, which borrow from ideas scrapped during development of the 2006 release; in particular a much larger harbor than what’s in the original game (and the recent remaster for that matter), a new market, and an alchemical shop.
The mod also aims to diversify your experiences in the evil realm of the Deadlands, creating two biomes in this hellish realm, one very similar to what we know from the original game (lots of fire and lava) and the other inspired by its appearance in The Elder Scrolls Online, with a more muted blue tone and deadly lightning strikes creating a perpetual sense of dread.
The trailer covers far more than just these two examples, and promises that the next video will show off the mod’s version of the Imperial City. And if you know your Elder Scrolls lore, then you know the city is supposed to be much larger than what we see in the original 2006 game or its 2025 remaster. It’s hard to imagine they’ll capture the size as many other fans have imagined it, but if this most recent trailer is anything to go by, it’s sure to impress.