According to Andres, Virtuos has been looking to reposition itself as a support studio for major projects that are part of big franchises. Comparing this positioning to that of Bluepoint, Andres noted that the studio had pushed itself quite hard with its work on The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered. The deal for working on that game reportedly involved no royalties or bonuses tied to the success of the project, as well as employees being pushed hard to over-deliver.

“In February, towards the end of Oblivion‘s development, the company announced a freeze on raises and a reduction in group-wide bonuses. Management had been questioned about the potential risk of layoffs as a result of these measures but reassured employees,” noted Andres (translation via Google).

In response to the current lay-offs, Andres has reported that employees at Virtuos Lyon are on strike to protest the lay-offs, as well as to protect the office itself, which is said to be currently dealing with a merger of leadership. The studio is also said to be “cautiously and gradually” looking into the use of generative AI. “In just one year, we’ve gone from a few group-level presentations to basic but mandatory training sessions for employees,” said one source.

Virtuos itself hasn’t yet released any statement about these lay-offs. Members of the company have, however, previously spoken about optimisation to bring games to the Nintendo Switch 2, as well as the success of the recent launch of the Switch 2.

https://bsky.app/profile/gautoz.cool/post/3lu3ntewdrk2t

Selon plusieurs sources, ces suppressions viseront d'abord la Chine (200 personnes) mais toucheront de nombreux pôles, dont les studios français, porteurs du récent succès TES IV Oblivion Remastered.Mot d'ordre de l'annonce faite aux équipes il y a quelques semaines : "compétitivité".2/10

— Gauthier 'Gautoz' Andres (@gautoz.cool) 2025-07-16T14:45:45.779Z

Through this, the company has gotten quite a few responses, with several coming from players that had seemingly not played Oblivion before the Remastered release. Several of the suggestions made on the channel involved making Oblivion Remastered more heavily resemble The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim in terms of its gameplay and quality-of-life features.

Some of the suggestions range from what could be relatively simpler additions to the game, like additional spell types from Skyrim, while another would prefer the UI to be closer to that of Skyrim. Yet another player said that they would “like to experience Skyrim‘s combat system a bit more.” Some players have also asked for quality-of-life additions, like a tag on the map that indicates that the player has already cleared the dungeon.

It is worth noting that, while the original release of Oblivion was quite successful in its own right, The Elder Scrolls as a franchise really got into the mainstream with the release of Skyrim in 2011. Skyrim brought about a host of changes from Oblivion, and at the time, even saw a bit of criticism for toning down the RPG elements from Skyrim. The levelling system, for example, was much more streamlined in Skyrim by removing many of the individual stats that players could level up.

Bethesda revealed last week that development on The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered had begun back in 2021. “When we started this project in 2021, we aimed to breathe new life into a chapter of The Elder Scrolls that set the path for so many of our games after it,” wrote the company on social media. “We never wanted to remake it – but remaster it – where the original game was there as you remember playing it, but seen through today’s technology.”

The company also wrote about how some of the gameplay aspects of Oblivion had been changed up for the Remastered release. This includes smoother and more balanced progression. However, there was still an emphasis on wanting to keep the Remastered release close to the original’s roots.

“Game systems were updated to feel better in your hands,” wrote the company. “Leveling systems modified for smoother progression and balance. We looked at every part and carefully upgraded it. But most of all, we never wanted to change the core. It’s still a game from a previous era and should feel like one.”

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our thoughts on the game in our review. In the meantime, also check out our suggestions for the 14 best mods for Oblivion Remastered, as well as our guide on how you can level up quickly.

The company also revealed that work on The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered had begun all the way back in 2021. “When we started this project in 2021, we aimed to breathe new life into a chapter of The Elder Scrolls that set the path for so many of our games after it,” wrote the company. “We never wanted to remake it – but remaster it – where the original game was there as you remember playing it, but seen through today’s technology.”

Bethesda also thanked Virtuos for its hand in working on Oblivion Remastered. The work done on the title has been quiet extensive, and even Bethesda mentions not having worked on a project of this scale before, since it features new art, animation, and special effects, among other things.

“We were so fortunate to work with an unbelievable team and partners at Virtuos,” posted Bethesda. “Even though we had worked together before, we had never attempted something on this scale. Every piece of art, animation, special effects, and part of the world would be remastered.”

The company also wrote about how gameplay aspects of Oblivion have been changed around, including smoother and more balanced progression thanks to the revamped levelling system.

“Game systems were updated to feel better in your hands,” it wrote. “Leveling systems modified for smoother progression and balance. We looked at every part and carefully upgraded it. But most of all, we never wanted to change the core. It’s still a game from a previous era and should feel like one.”

“We can’t thank you enough for all the support you have given us and our games over the years,” the company continued. “Our hope with this remaster is, that no matter who you are, when you step out of the Imperial sewer – you feel like you’re experiencing it for the first time.”

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered was released earlier this week on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Priced at $49.99 on all platforms, the game is also available through PC and Xbox Game Pass. Along with new visuals and animations, Oblivion Remastered also features an improved UI, improved enemy scaling, and changes to systems like non-combat perks and encumbrance.

For more details, here is everything you need to know about Oblivion Remastered. In the meantime, you can also check out the thoughts of former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, who doesn’t believe that Oblivion Remastered can stand out against more modern takes on the open-world RPG formula like FromSoftware’s Elden Ring when it comes to things like combat, exploration and world design. Despite this, the title has seen quite a successful launch, peaking at more than 182,000 concurrent players on Steam alone.

While the files can no longer be seen, they were seemingly accidentally revealed to the public. Two of the screenshots were spotted, and can be seen on the Reddit thread discussing the remake.

For context, Virtuos Games is a studio that has worked with companies on a host of major game releases across a wide range of disciplines. It’s assisted with game development work on Dark Souls: Remastered, Judas and Outriders, and on art production for major games like League of Legends and Stellar Blade.

The studio also has a history of working on games across various platforms and budget categories, from smaller-scaled titles like Dave the Diver to major releases like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and New World: Aeternum.

While neither Bethesda nor Virtuos have made any official announcement about a remake for The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, quite a few details have been circulating around thanks to various rumours and leaks. According to a rumour from back in January, the title has been fully remade on Unreal Engine 5 rather than Bethesda’s own engine.

Along with this change in engine, the remake will also feature a number of changes to its gameplay, including changes to sneaking, how blocking works, archery, and even enemy hit reactions. How Stamina works, along with the entire HUD, has been completely redesigned according to reports.

When it comes to actually releasing the title, a rumour from this week indicates that Bethesda might be getting ready to launch the game quite soon. According to the report, Bethesda will apparently shadow drop The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion in the week of April 21.

As its name might imply, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is the fourth mainline title in the RPG franchise. Originally released on PC and Xbox 360 all the way back in March 2006, the title was considered to be something of a mixed bag when it came to the changes it made over its predecessor, The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind.

While Oblivion was praised for its overall gameplay and setting, critics also noted that the title had issues with its levelling systems where, because of the way enemies scaled in level with the player, it wouldn’t be difficult to end up with a much weaker character than expected.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion also got two major expansion releases: The Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine. Along with this, it also got a host of smaller DLC, including the infamous Horse Armour. For more details on the game, check out our thoughts on how well the classic RPG holds up today, where we noted that it is still a charming game even today thanks to its world and the (at the time) revolutionary AI schedule system.