Bethesda giving out Oblivion Remastered keys to Skyblivion modders is "exactly what I'd like to see more of," says CEO of retro remaster studio as devs reflect on game preservation

After absolutely no official buildup, Oblivion Remastered was released last week, but Bethesda made it very clear that it had no ill will towards a group of fans who've been working on the unofficial Skyblivion remake, in a move the CEO of retro remake specialist Nightdive Studios would "like to see more of."

Skyblivion – the fan-made project that set out to rebuild Oblivion in Skyrim's engine – has been a work-in-progress for 13 years. Although it could be considered a rival for the official game, it was revealed last week that Bethesda had provided the entire mod team with keys for Oblivion Remastered, and "made it clear that they have no intention of shutting down our project."

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in an interview about game preservation, Stephen Kick, CEO of Nightdive Studios, which has produced remasters for loads of older games including Doom 1 and 2, The Thing, and more, is very complimentary of Bethesda's recent gesture.

In general, he believes that when it comes to preservation, devs and publishers should work closely with the fans who "have done what they can with whatever limited resources they have to make them accessible again," and this case is clearly a positive example of the community being embraced.

"I think that's exactly what I'd like to see more of, and that's something that we do extensively on the Nightdive side," he says of Bethesda giving the Skyblivion team copies of the official remaster.

"Whenever we have an opportunity to do a new game, the first thing we do is go and seek out the community that's made it playable to this point, and either consult with them, contract them, or, in some cases, even hire some of those team members," he continues.

While less about game preservation, Bethesda took a somewhat similar approach with the massive fan-made Fallout: London expansion mod for Fallout 4, actually hiring two of the developers behind it. The studio clearly keeps close tabs on fan projects like this, and knows their worth, too.

In the case of Skyblivion, its lead developer, Rebelzize, previously told GamesRadar+ that the release of Oblivion Remastered "changes nothing about our plans," with him feeling that the "project has already paid off tenfold." Skyblivion is still eyeing up a launch later this year, with Rebelzize adding: "We will keep working on bug fixes and the DLC after the release."

If you've been playing Bethesda's remastered RPG, be sure to check out our guide to Oblivion Remastered's skill system.