The team behind the highly anticipated Skyblivion mod for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim shares a new trailer confirming both good and bad news about its upcoming release. Skyblivion has been in development for nearly as long as Skyrim has been available. The promise of a mod upgrading The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion in Skyrim's engine is promising enough to make the decade-plus wait well worth it, but the new release window update for Skyblivion is going to be disheartening for some regardless.
Skyblivion development first started in 2012, born from the community surrounding the Morroblivion mod that brought Morrowind into Oblivion's engine. This early effort to convert Oblivion's files to Skyrim was just one step, though. It wasn't until 2016 that the effort truly began, with the modding team at TESRenewal growing substantially in the years since as Cyrodiil is closer to realization in Skyrim's engine than ever.
The latest trailer for Skyblivion shows just how impressive the work by the TESRenewel team is. It's one of the best looks at Skyblivion yet. But the trailer was released in tandem with some important news. The good news is that Skyblivion is still in active development and moving closer to release every day. The bad news is that Skyblivion's release date won't be coming anytime soon. TESRenewel is dedicated to finishing Skyblivion by 2025 at the latest.
It may seem bizarre for a modding team to announce a release window that's still two years off. No one wants to announce a release window that far, for sure. What it does do, however, is set realistic expectations within the Elder Scrolls community regarding what this team of volunteers is capable of. That the Skyblivion team is able to recognize its own limitations and capabilities is, if anything, encouraging. If TESRenewel is announcing it can deliver Skyblivion by 2025, then it must be confident.
It's going to be difficult for Elder Scrolls fans not to be critical, of course. Skyblivion has been in development since 2012. It passed a decade of development last year, and now won't be delivered until around 13 years after development started. That's a long time to stay excited about a mod. Then again, it's still faster than Bethesda's likely turnaround on the next Elder Scrolls game.
Mods take a lot of time to finish and while Skyblivion may be an extreme example of that, it's not alone. What's worth recognizing is how great Skyblivion looks, based on the images and trailers that have been released in the years. 2025 may be a ways off, but the team at TESRenewel hopefully won't make fans wait for their next look at the Oblivion-meets-Skyrim mod.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
