Microsoft Allows Bethesda To Continue To Be Cool Regarding Fan-Made Remake Projects
from the welcome-news dept
Bethesda has something of a history of embracing its modding communities. This has historically included not being aggressive on matters of IP against modders, attempting to build an economy around the modding community itself, and even being quite tolerant of fan-made expansions and the like of the publisher’s titles. This was all well and good until Bethesda was acquired by Microsoft. Straddling the before and after of that acquisition are some ambitious fan-led projects, perhaps none larger than Skyblivion, a project to completely remake The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in the Skyrim engine.
The team behind the project previously indicated that it should be completed at some point this year, but I wondered aloud several months ago whether it would be allowed to move forward, or if this would be one of those fan-made projects that is killed off by the lawyers at the last minute, now that Microsoft is in charge. Complicating this further is the long-rumored remaster of Oblivion from Bethesda itself, released just this week. With what would be a competing project, even though Skyblivion is going to be released for free, what would this mean for the project being able to go forward?
Thankfully, and much to this writer’s surprise, it appears that Microsoft and Bethesda are playing cool with the entire project.
Fortunately for the Skyblivion team, Bethesda has apparently decided there’s room enough in this world for both official and unofficial remakes of Oblivion. The team took to social media Tuesday to thank Bethesda for “their continued support” and for “the generous gift of Oblivion Remastered game keys for our entire modding team.”
“To clear up any confusion Bethesda made it clear that they have no intention of shutting down our project,” the team added in a social media reply.
Now, hopefully, that also means that Microsoft has no intention of shutting this down, either. One would hope that any messaging about this from Bethesda has cleared whatever internal bureaucratic hurdles with the parent company required to make that stance firm.
It’s worth noting several things here. First, this fan project did not make use of any Bethesda assets beyond using Skyrim’s engine. Everything has been recreated from scratch, from what I understand. Second, you can’t play Skyblivion without having bought specific versions of both Oblivion and Skyrim, so there really is no threat to the publisher here. In fact, this should be a boon to them and, if anything, drive more sales for these older titles.
And, finally, these fans have, by all accounts, been very cool and respectful of Bethesda throughout the process.
Earlier this month, when credible rumors of the official Oblivion remaster were running rampant, the Skyblivion team posted that it was “eagerly aniticipating” the official release and that there was “no need for comparisons or a sense of competition between Skyblivion and a potential official remaster.” That’s particularly true, the team wrote, because Skyblivion’s PC mod won’t be available for console players, who will be able to enjoy Bethesda’s official version instead.
And now, Bethesda and Microsoft are being human and cool right back at them. I haven’t spilled much ink praising large companies like Microsoft for being sensible on matters that include their intellectual property, but here we are. When Microsoft does something cool, I suppose we owe it to the universe to say so out loud.
Filed Under: fan remake, oblivion
Companies: bethesda, microsoft
Comments on “Microsoft Allows Bethesda To Continue To Be Cool Regarding Fan-Made Remake Projects”
I’d like to think they’re being cool, but I’m inclined to think they don’t consider Skyblivion to be a threat since they beat them to the punch on release and Skyblivion still generally requires a Skyrim sale.
Re:
Honestly? Given the extreme low bar set by Nintendo, Rockstar on a bad day, Nintendo, etc., “not a threat” is still them being pretty damnned cool.
FAN support
Fans generate content. Sometimes it’s DLC, sometimes just a remap of the universe, sometimes knobs and twiddles and menu options hidden in software, and sometimes graphics and avatars.
Content producers (production studios, game companies, play platform manufacturers) have chosen a combative non-cooperative scheme.
With nobody standing up to them, the big bully in the room wins every time. What devs and indie modders need is an organization (like an EFF of game mods for one example) to stand up to the bullies.
If only I played games.
E
GT4, GTA, ST6, NFS, offline.
If they went to war with the mod scene over this, they know they’d lose most of their dev team. Bethesda games are basically Roblox for grown ups at this point, with a legion of unpaid volunteers working to build the buggy main release into something people will buy for years to come.
Mods improve their games
Users patches glitches faster than Bethesda.
They add sights to gun when Bethesda forgets to add them.
Bethesda can release a game at 85% knowing the community will finish it for them.
Bethesda makes a habit of pushing out games that are 85% complete.
They need modders to fix their games.
But first, a question!
Didn’t Bethesda shut down another total conversion fan project for one of their Fallout games before? Because I remember that happening but not the exact details (I didn’t care for them as much back then). And given that history, I’m skeptical that Beth’s intentions are as clean as they seem to be.
Why Supportive Licensing Sparks Innovation in Gaming
It’s genuinely refreshing to see a major studio like Bethesda (under Microsoft, no less) taking a hands-off, supportive approach to fan-made projects. In an industry where copyright enforcement often stifles creativity, this move feels like a small win for community-driven innovation.
Fan projects not only help keep older IPs alive, but they also build long-term brand loyalty. It’s a form of collaborative culture that corporations usually underestimate. Imagine if more tech giants saw value in co-creation rather than control.
At BM Infotrade, we recently discussed how platform openness and supportive licensing can spark new waves of innovation in both gaming and enterprise software. The line between fan and developer is thinning—and the companies that embrace that shift may just future-proof their relevance.