On November 11th of 2011, the entirety of the gaming world would be changed by the release of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. It presented players with an expansive world containing countless stories, quickly becoming the poster boy of the genre. It also presented players with the opportunity to mod the game at unprecedented scales.
One of the most ambitious mods for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is Skyblivion. The mod aims to be a recreation of The Elder Scroll 4: Oblivion using Skyrim as a sandbox, utilizing its engine and assets, along with newer ones. While its upcoming release is exciting, it means that fans may be playing Skyblivion long before the next mainline installment of the franchise.
The Future of the Elder Scrolls
In February 2012, Bethesda released the Creation Kit for Skyrim, which quickly revealed itself to be one of the studio's best decisions. With it came thousands upon thousands of mods for just about anything, ranging from improving the survival experience to bringing Thomas the Train into Skyrim. Some mods would aim to be more ambitious, such as the development of Skyblivion, which began the same year the Creation Kit released. This decision by Bethesda would keep its game alive and relevant for years to come, with Skyrim modding still being prominent to this day.
Though it started with a smaller team, a release date Skyblivion has been announced for 2025. That is much sooner than theorized release dates for The Elder Scrolls 6, which in some ways is a good thing for the franchise. Fans will likely be waiting for many more years, and having an unofficial remake for a beloved installment of an Elder Scrolls game may help satiate that desire. Skyblivion will also be the chance to experience the game for the first time for many, as the original game will be nearly 2 decades old by the time Skyblivion releases.
Gameplay footage of Skyblivion has also been shown, which only increased the hype for its eventual release. The game showcases beautiful, modern graphics while still retaining that classic old school RPG charm. Fan projects like these are what make the Elder Scrolls franchise what it is today. The ability for fans to interact with both the world and the modding of the game allows for collaboration on a massive scale. There are few communities that can boast as strong of a bond between the fans and the games as the Elder Scrolls franchise. It also helps with the fact that development of newer installments can take many years, making the wait especially excruciating.
However, there is a certain amount of disappointment on Bethesda's part in all of this. Because ambitious mods like Skyblivion and Morroblivion exist, this makes it unlikely that Bethesda itself will ever return to the games. It has also relied quite strongly on fans fixing issues such as bugs and exploits through unofficial patches. While community involvement has greatly improved the experience of playing Elder Scrolls games, there is still a certain amount of accountability that Bethesda should hold when it comes to the creation and refinement of its own games.
As the Elder Scrolls community continues to churn out ambitious mods like Skyblivion, the anticipation for The Elder Scrolls 6 grows. Hopefully Bethesda continues its trend of supporting the modding community, without going too far down the route of paid mods. One thing is for sure: fans will likely be playing with modded Skyrim for quite a while before The Elder Scrolls 6 finally releases.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.