The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered lit a fuse, and plenty of fans instantly assumed Morrowind would be next. But one longtime Bethesda voice says the studio should not treat the 2002 classic the way it handled Oblivion. Bruce Nesmith argues the smarter move is making something new, not polishing an old memory, and he lays out why in detail. In other words: nostalgia is not a plan, especially when the tech and design reality is messy.
After the launch of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, a lot of fans expected Morrowind to be next on Bethesda’s list. Morrowind is an RPG cornerstone because it helped establish 3D open-world freedom, it fostered a modding community that still thrives, and it is often credited as the game that kept Bethesda from going under. On top of that, it locked in the design formula later used by games like Oblivion, Skyrim, and Fallout 3. However, a studio veteran has now poured cold water on that possibility.
According to IGN, Bruce Nesmith – who spent over 17 years at Bethesda before leaving in 2021 during the development of Starfield – believes Bethesda should not remaster The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. He also offers several reasons the studio should focus entirely on new games instead. In an interview with Press Box PR, Nesmith lays out why an Oblivion-style remaster of Morrowind would be complicated. He suggests Bethesda likely no longer has the original source code for a game released in 2002. Or, even if that source code still exists, he argues it would not be workable with current tools. He adds that Oblivion was different because they still had the code, could compile it, and could integrate it into a newer version of the engine. But he says the situation with Morrowind would not line up the same way.
“The problem with making Morrowind is that I bet they don’t have the original code”. “The game is very old”. “I don’t know if the original source code still exists”. “And if it does, can it even be compiled?”. “In the case of Oblivion, they still had the code and could compile it”. “Integrating it into a new version of the engine was a possibility”, Nesmith explains. Beyond the technical side, he argues nostalgia should not be the driving force, since the game has plenty of bugs and awkward edges that did not age well.
“The other thing I would say is to play Morrowind again and tell me if it’s really the game you want to play again”. “We all have very fond memories of things that were key moments in our history as gamers, but you go back to a game from 20 years ago and it makes you cringe”. “There were even cringeworthy moments with the Oblivion remaster, but people forgave them because they were reliving something and enjoying the nostalgia”, he says. “There were even some embarrassing moments with the Oblivion remaster, but people forgave them because they were reliving something and enjoying the nostalgia”. “I worked on Oblivion“. “I’m even responsible for some of those moments!”. “The further back you go, the bigger the problem becomes”. “The reality is that playing Morrowind hasn’t stood the test of time, in my opinion”, he says. Still, the Bethesda veteran is considering what could be done with Morrowind in some form.
Morrowind Remake or Something New?
Nesmith does consider a complete Morrowind remake using the Skyrim engine, rebuilt from the ground up, but he cautions that it would mean a full four-year development cycle. And that is where he puts the key question on the table: “Why not go and do something new?” “Let’s return to the lands of Morrowind and tell a new story”. “You can include the giant crab palace and all that, but make it new and avoid all the things that haven’t stood the test of time”.
He also suggests Morrowind could simply be one of the regions featured in The Elder Scrolls 6, alongside Hammerfell, High Rock, and Summerset Isle. Meanwhile, Bethesda is reportedly working on a major Starfield expansion – the rumored Starfield 2.0 update – and a possible PS5 release this year. Bethesda is also still building The Elder Scrolls 6, and Todd Howard has said it remains several years away, so patience is required. What may arrive sooner, however, is a remaster of Fallout 3 or New Vegas, though those projects would reportedly not be developed directly by Bethesda.
Source: 3djuegos
