The director of Bethesda Game Studios recently spoke with GamesRadar+ at the Golden Joystick Awards 2025 ceremony.
Tom Mustaine said that despite knowing the game "by heart," he discovers something new in the project:
Every time I play [Oblivion], I do something completely new and have new experiences, even after so many playthroughs. I go in a different direction and get a different experience.
Mustaine continued:
It speaks to the amazing longevity of how this game is structured. [Returning to Oblivion in a remastered format] was a bit like opening an old chest and thinking: \"Oh, there are so many amazing elements here that we created 20 years ago and did it as well as possible at the time.\"
The release of the Oblivion remaster allowed for improvements to some parts of the game. During discussions, the developers came to the conclusion that making changes makes sense if it "doesn't violate the legacy [tradition] and doesn't break the game."