Skyblivion – the ambitious, highly anticipated mod remaking the entirety of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion using Skyrim’s engine – won’t hit its originally anticipated 2025 release, its development team has confirmed, with the project now expected next year.
Developer TESRenewal originally announced its 2025 release target back in 2023, but in a new update video, project lead Rebelzize confirmed the delay, explained the team still has “some last challenges to overcome that are going to require a little bit more time.”
“This is something we have known for a while,” he continued, “but we did not want to announce a delay without also sharing our current plans and ambitions for the release of the project.” To that end, the remainder of the eight-and-a-half-minute video takes a closer look at its current state, with Rebelzize stressing many parts are now “in great shape”.
Skyblivion’s world map is “100 percent finished”, for instance, and the team has uploaded an interactive satellite version of the map for closer perusal. Similarly, all quest dungeons, which have been remade for the project, are complete, while the remaining random dungeons are “mostly finished”.
As for other key elements, interiors for houses, shops, castles, stables, inns, and chapels are complete, but there’s still some work to be done on the Imperial City before they can all find a home. It sounds like the Imperial City – which is still awaiting final assets – is the last major roadblock as far as locations go. Other cities are complete and the studio believes it’ll have all locations wrapped up and ready to go by the end of this year, at which point it can focus on quest finalisation, navmesh work, and QA as 2026 gets underway.
Elsewhere, weapons, armour, clothing, plants, clutter, and the majority of architecture assets are complete, meaning 3D modelling work is virtually done, leaving a few low priority assets to go. Additionally, UI work continues, with the team transitioning to a more Skyrim-like interface, and the mechanics team is said to be making “solid progress” as it focuses on enhancing player experience, based on feedback from the team. Most major systems are anticipated to be complete by the end of the year, and the goal is to open Skyblivion out for wider play-testing at a later date. The team has, however, hit a snag with cinematics, and is seeking volunteers to finish a major scene.
Once major work is complete, Rebelzize says the goal is to spend “as much time as possible polishing, balancing, and fixing” ready for launch day. And that work will likely continue after release, as it addresses issues spotted by players once they get their hands on the game. Additionally, there are robust plans for post-release updates, with the team hoping to implement custom content, original Oblivion DLC such as Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine, and other features – including spell crafting, Oblivion-like UI reskins, dynamic dungeons, grave robbing, increased creature variety, followers and hirelings, more unique weapons and armours, additional unique spells, and more.
One previously discussed element that won’t make release is underwater combat. Despite getting the feature “partially working”, the team opted to drop it due to conflicts with animation mods and other technical issues. There is, however, still hope it can be revisited and added at a later date.
“We thank you all for your continued support of this ambitious project I started more than ten years ago,” Rebelzize concludes. “And I really, genuinely cannot wait to get Skyblivion into your hands”. Following today’s delay announcement, the mod is expected to launch sometime next year.
