- Former Blizzard head Mike Ybarra showed skepticism over the Oblivion remaster.
- Ybarra stated that safe remakes of older games can’t stack up against modern RPGs like Elden Ring.
- The bar has been raised too high, and older titles don’t align.
Since shadow-dropping last night, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered has taken the gaming world by storm. Even though the title’s existence had been revealed weeks earlier due to leaks, the RPG surprised the wider gaming industry by simultaneously dropping it on all platforms.
While most fans and much of the industry have given a positive reception to Oblivion Remastered, some are more critical, and that list includes the former boss of Bethesda.
Why it matters: The ex-Blizzard head does have a point regarding the insistence on safe remakes instead of new and innovative games in the gaming industry.
Mike Ybarra, the former head of Blizzard Games, expressed skepticism about Oblivion Remastered in a new post on X, stating that older games like it, even when remastered, will still not hold up against modern RPGs.
He stated that titles like Elden Ring have raised the bar too high in the modern gaming climate, and decade-old titles like Oblivion simply can’t compete with such masterpieces. Ybarra did say that the 2006 RPG is a fantastic game for its time and is one of the all-time greats.
However, the bar for judging modern RPGs is a lot higher, and safe open-world games just can’t put up a fight against the likes of Elden Ring. Hence, Mike Ybarra wasn’t just criticising Oblivion Remastered, but rather the trend of pushing out safe remakes of older games to make money instead of trying something new.
Whatever the ex-Blizzard boss may think about the RPG, Oblivion Remastered has hit the ground running so far. The game amassed over 150,000 concurrent players on Steam just hours after launching and also topped the best-sellers chart as soon as it went on sale.
Furthermore, the hype surrounding the game also led to a spike in sales for the original Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, with the RPG experiencing an 85% surge in players. Hence, the commercial performance so far is proving Ybarra wrong.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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