Oblivion Remastered replicated the 'Fallout effect' for ESO, says game director

When I think of the most iconic MMOs out there, I am immediately drawn to stalwarts World of Warcraft, Old School Runescape, and Final Fantasy 14 (cat boy Red Mages rise up). Perhaps the most underrated long-runner is ZeniMax Online Studios' Elder Scrolls Online, which, unbeknownst to many, recently entered its second decade of life. Undoubtedly overshadowed by the iconic series' single-player headliners, it's easy to forget ESO exists. However, as game director Nick Giacomini tells Lauren at Gamescom, the release of Oblivion Remastered was a massive plus for the denizens of Tamriel.

We've all seen the power of transmedia at play when it comes to giving some of the best games ever a big ol' player boost, despite their pre-existing popularity. League of Legends Arcane, The Last of Us, and Castlevania all come to mind. For Bethesda, the roaring success of the Fallout TV series, which got a brand new trailer for its second season at Gamescom, saw a profound uptick in the number of people diving into Fallout 4 and Fallout 76. But sometimes it doesn't take a completely different format to get people thinking about a series, and the recent Oblivion remaster did Elder Scrolls Online a solid.

When asked if Oblivion Remastered had worked its magic on ESO, Giacomini says the impact "was very dramatic."

"We watch the player population and the ebb and flow," Giacomini explains. "Generally, what we see is a new game comes out and the numbers go down for a little bit, and they go back to where they were. That happened with Oblivion, but the drop was smaller, and the increase actually went past what our normal levels were and stayed above that for a while. It was like, 'wow, this is cool.'

"People got really excited, kind of like what Fallout (the TV show) did for Fallout 76. Like, this thing comes out. It's a big success. And then people are like, 'okay, I played this. How do I get more [of an] Elder Scrolls fix? Oh, Elder Scrolls Online, right? And away they went. It's nice because it was a mix of a lot of new players trying us for the first time, and a lot of people coming back."

While we don't have the exact numbers across platforms, we can see a little bit of what Giacomini's describing over on SteamDB. When Oblivion Remastered launched on April 22, the concurrent player numbers dropped by 20%. By the beginning of May, however, it had rebounded and then some, registering the highest peak the MMO's enjoyed since June 2024.

But that's not to say ESO's been sitting on its laurels, letting its brandmates do all the heavy lifting. Monthly roadmaps filled with new content, including two huge new dungeons in its latest Feast of Shadows update, ensure players new and old aren't left twiddling their thumbs. There's plenty more to come this year, too, with the finale of Seasons of the Worm Cult dropping in the coming months.

If you fancy trying out ESO for yourself, make sure your rig meets the Elder Scrolls Online system requirements. If you've done your time in Tamriel, then check out more of the best single-player MMOs you can dive into instead.

If you're looking for new pals to play ESO with, meanwhile, come and say hi in our community Discord server.

Additional reporting by Lauren Bergin at Gamescom.