A Skyrim remaster might be on the way but here's why Bethesda will never do Morrowind HD

If the online rumour mill - which has been very right this week - is correct, we're getting an Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim remaster. A number of reports suggest a PS4 and Xbox One remake of the one game that literally everyone has been screaming for. 

While German website gamepro has reported it as happening, Neogaf sources have also corroborated the remaster, with apparent insider Enter The Dragon Punch stating that it'll have "mods, all DLC [and] improved visuals." Now that we know mods work on consoles in Fallout 4, this with Skyrim is ridiculously exciting. Even if everyone will just make it about infinite crafting and boobs.  

Understandably, this has got a lot of people talking about the chances of seeing any other Elder Scrolls games all HD'd up. Whatever you might be hoping for you can cross Morrowind off the list. I spoke to Bethesda’s Pete Hines a while back and he was pretty clear on one thing: no Morrowind remaster. 

"To take Morrowind and then to completely rebuild it? It was an Xbox game. To completely rebuild it have it be relevant for today? That’s a pretty massive team doing a massive amount of work,” he explained. 

With a game as old as Morrowind (2002!?) it’s not just a case of brushing up the textures a bit. “You go back and look at it. Do you remember the dialogue system in Morrowind?” points out Hines. “Do you remember what it was like talking to someone and scrolling through this long list of questions. You put that out for someone that just finished Skyrim and they’re going to be like ‘What in the hell…?’” 

Ultimately, the idea of putting out a remastered version of a game as old as Morrowind “doesn’t excite” Hines. "Those great games are great for what they were but I don’t know if we’re ever going to spend time going back to old stuff and saying ‘okay here it is now on this console exactly like it was’”. At least we don't have long to wait until Bethesda's E3 conference on Sunday night

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Leon Hurley
Managing editor for guides

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides, which means I run GamesRadar's guides and tips content. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website.