Even though a new version of a Bethesda Game Studios (BGS) game was released for the PlayStation 5, not many people finished it.
In 2025, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered was unexpectedly released (shadowdropped), a remake of BGS’s fourth installment in the series using Unreal Engine 5 that leaves the original gameplay almost untouched. The game seemed successful from the start, which is not surprising, as it has remained popular since its release in 2006. However, nostalgia is not as strong as some might think; many players stopped playing after about 10 hours.
Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliot examined the performance of Xbox games on the PlayStation 5, beginning with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. The game sold 1.1 million copies on the platform, proving the appeal of BGS’ legacy on PlayStation hardware. More than 80% of the copies sold in the first month, but price drops to $33 in recent months resulted in only minor sales spikes. Player engagement for such a massive RPG was unimpressive. About half of PlayStation 5 players played for fewer than 15 hours, showing that most people experienced a bit of nostalgia before making any real progress in the game. Considering how easy it is to get lost in Cyrodiil before advancing in the main story, this suggests that a remake requires more than improved graphics to retain players’ interest after they’ve satisfied their nostalgia.
In addition to the lack of new content, there are a few other reasons why people who bought The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered for the PlayStation 5 didn’t play it for very long. The game runs poorly on all platforms, and performance issues prevent players from enjoying the new graphics. It cannot be modded on consoles, which prevents it from achieving the same lasting popularity as its sequel, Skyrim. Regardless of how much time players have spent in Cyrodiil, Oblivion Remastered is selling quite well. It will be interesting to see how Starfield performs on Sony‘s console.
Although BGS’ latest RPG is nowhere near as popular as its previous games, Elliot believes it will surpass the remake developed by Virtuos. Hopefully, the rumored 2.0 update will give disillusioned players a reason to return to the game.
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