Summary
It’s no mystery thatOblivionis one of the most popular and beloved games inThe Elder Scrollsseries, to the point that beforeOblivion Remasteredwas announced and shadow-dropped, there was a lot of hype surrounding the possibility it would come out. This includes the fan-madeSkyblivion mod to re-experienceTES 4, which is still in the works. This is further cemented by the fact thatOblivion Remasteredwas reportedly a massive success in terms of sales, even considering its launch on Xbox Game Pass. On Steam alone,Oblivion Remasteredhit an all-time peak of 216,784 players on Sunday, April 27, just a few days after its release. However, it seems that many players are now flocking back toSkyrimif they hadn’t already.
This is not to say thatOblivion Remasteredhas failed, as, on the contrary, it has been a huge release for Bethesda and Virtuos, paving the way for more similar games, like a remastered version ofFallout 3orNew Vegas. There are a few key reasons that could explain whySkyrim’s player count increased whileOblivion Remastered’s dwindled. Right now, the 24-hour peak forSkyrimis 30,035 players, whereas forOblivion Remasteredit is 15,455, which is just about half ofSkyrim’s.
These numbers are from Steam charts, and for Skyrim, they refer to Skyrim Special Edition.
Skyrim Has Twice The Player Count of Oblivion Remastered
There are five possible major reasons whyOblivion Remastered’s player count on Steam may have dropped, andSkyrim’s simultaneously increased. These are:
These could be standalone reasons forOblivion Remasteredlosing players toSkyrim, or they may combine, depending on the specific case. Either way, this trend ofSkyrimhaving nearly double the players ofOblivion Remasteredon Steam started very recently, at the beginning of June. However, what’s interesting is thatSkyrim’s player numbers grew by a significant margin on Sunday, April 27, which is the same dayOblivion Remasteredsaw its peak player count on Steam, indicating that perhaps fans of the series were hyped by the remastered and hopped back on the comfort game that has becomeSkyrimover the years.
It’s also worth noting that Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon came out on May 23, and it has also attracted the same player crowd as The Elder Scrolls.Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon may have siphoned players from Oblivion Remasteredon Steam, at the very least.
Why Oblivion Remastered’s Lower Numbers Don’t Really Matter
Whatever the reason, it’s not unheard of for single-player games within a larger series or franchise to lose players to their predecessors, even thoughOblivion Remasteredis technically the predecessor in this specific case. Even though console numbers for the game are not available, it’s likely that the title has lost players on Xbox and PlayStation, too. Even more so with someOblivion Remasteredglitchesaffecting console players more often than those on PC. Still, it’s clear that hype for moreThe Elder Scrollsis very much alive, and Bethesda should capitalize on it.
