Since the release ofSkyrimback in 2011,TheElder Scrollsfranchise has gone from strength to strength. There are countless ports ofSkyrimacross various platforms, andTheElder Scrolls Onlineproves to be continually popular among fans of the series. Not only that, Bethesda confirmedTheElder Scrolls 6will be the most ambitious in the series yet, using an entirely new engine and extensive procedural generation in its worldbuilding.Skyrimis still the standout game in the series in terms of popularity. It has been purchased over 30 million times, according to Bethesda.
These sales will only increase in the coming year, with theSkyrimAnniversary Editionrerelease launching later this year. That is just to comment on the official releases ofThe Elder Scrolls 5. One of the inarguable parts ofSkyrim’s success is its impassioned modding community. In this decade of modding, some amazing experiences have popped up. Be it the time-traveling shenanigans ofThe Forgotten City, the complete menu overhauls of SkyUI, or the magical remasters of mods like Apocalypse, the community has had some amazing ideas of how to transform the base game. Several of these completely alter the game and have a collective 1.8 billion downloads through Nexus Mods.
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Modders do not limit themselves to adding new content toSkyrim, however. One of the earlier high-profilemods forThe Elder Scrolls 5was called Skyblivion. As the name might suggest, this mod blends two incredibly popularElder Scrollsgames, one of which isOblivion. Rebelzize, the YouTube channel of the modding collective TESRenewal, hosts the announcement trailers for Skyblivion. This channel boasts over 14 million views at the time of writing, demonstrating just how many people really want to visit a spruced-up version of oldElder Scrollsworlds. Currently,Skyrimis the only game in the franchise with a more modern remaster, but Skyblivion proves that with enough ambition and effort, fans can create compelling remasters of their own.
A Time Before Skyrim: Morroblivion and TESRenewal
Before Skyblivion, Skywind, and evenSkyrimitself, there was Morroblivion. Game recreation mods are a time-honored tradition, and in 2008 the modding collective TESRenewal released itsMorrowindremasterin theOblivionbase game. This project started in the Morroblivion fan forum and was also largely coordinated using this platform. The forum itself has very distinct sections for FAQs, including comments on the legality of fan mods like it.
Of course, the recreation was limited byOblivion’s engine, so the recreation was of a much smaller scale than the upcoming Skyblivion mod. Interestingly, the forum was also integral for every TESRenewal project since, including Skyblivion. TheMorrowindremaster mod was fully feature-complete within two years ofOblivion’s release. Modders are undeniably devoted to the games they love, even with projects likethe Thomas the Tank Engine mod, and Morroblivion demonstrates that devotion brilliantly.
Skyblivion’s Beginnings
Skyblivion began life as a simple test: couldOblivionassets be loaded inSkyrim? In 2012, a modder called Zilav figured out a technique that would become essential to the future of both Skywind and Skyblivion. This tool of Zilav’s convertedObliviondata into a format thatSkyrim’s Creation enginecould load. In a sense, that was the first, essential step that the Skyblivion mod needed. This mod could only convert specific parts of the game, however, and Zilav was working on the project mostly alone. As is often the case with mods for big games, another contributor quickly got involved, volunteering to write extra code for the game. What was originally a standalone proof-of-concept tool is now known as version 0.1 of Skyblivion.
Although at the time, this was one of themost interestingSkyrimmods, it had a long way to go. Cyrodiil looked nothing like the originalOblivion, with large swathes of the map left entirely empty (due to badly converted or incompatible files). Besides that, there were constant crashes and bugs that would break the game. The two modders, Zilav and Monocleus, finally created a stable build in 2014. This was down to the help of many passionate volunteers. While this 2014 build was by no means feature-complete, it was in a state to be iterated upon by others.
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The 2016 Skyblivion Trailer
Although there would be the occasional bit of good press for the project in the following years, the mod didn’t properly take off until 2016. 2016 saw the release of the firstofficial Skyblivion trailer. Of the 14 million YouTube views the project has accrued since 2011, 1.3 million came from this initial trailer. Skyblivion: Return to Cyrodiil was released on July 04, 2025, and led to a massive increase in interest.
With this newfound interest came a lot more volunteers. The development team of Skyblivion subsequently skyrocketed, which led to the pace of the project’s creation increasing exponentially as well. This was really important for the mod, as pretty much every component was remade from scratch forSkyrim’s engine. While this approach cemented Skyblivion as one of thebestSkyrimmodsout there, it also meant it needed a lot of labor power behind it.
Skyblivion Today
On June 29, 2025, the Skyblivion team dropped its third Development Diary, updating players on the progress so far. Skyblivion currently has over 50 members of its development team, which is why the updates have been so prolific recently. SinceSkyrim’s release 10 years ago, the 2016Skyrim: Special Editionhas come out too. Skyblivion will support both versions of the game. On August 15, a 3.5-hour gameplay demonstration of the game was released on the Rebelzize channel. In the video, which racked up 250,000 views in five days, the TESRenewal team showed off NPC interactions, quests, and exploration segments galore. However, for fans of the series who still want to contribute to the project, the opportunity is still available. Skyblivion’s team currently wants volunteers to help finish up the project as soon as possible.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - Anniversary Editionis set to launch on Jul 12, 2025, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.Skyblivionis still in development.
