The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered has experienced major success since launch, surpassing 4 million players and maintaining 'Very Positive' reviews on Steam. However, persistent performance issues continue plaguing the RPG across all platforms.
Performance Woes Across All Consoles
Digital Foundry's technical analysis reveals worrying performance problems affecting every console version:
Every platform suffers: whether PlayStation 5, PS5 Pro, or Xbox Series X/S, all versions experience traversal stutters in open-world exploration. The team also observed consistent framerate drops below 60fps, with performance deteriorating over extended play sessions - likely due to memory leaks. Most alarmingly, all PlayStation and Xbox versions crash to system menus when repeatedly loading save files.
These issues compound during extended play sessions. Digital Foundry discovered that saved games after prolonged play exhibit more bugs than fresh starts, including a peculiar camera glitch during horseback riding that requires game restarts to fix.
Technical Troublshots Emerge
The apparent memory leak causing gradual performance degradation presents serious concerns. Frequent crashes during save loading further compound player frustration.
"This represents a critical situation for any remaster," stated Digital Foundry's Thomas Morgan. "Developer Virtuos must prioritize stability fixes, particularly addressing the crashing issues."
The analysis suggests the remaster may have launched prematurely. Notably, an Xbox Series X hotfix has been released while PlayStation platforms await solutions. PC performance has already been labeled "dire" in previous Digital Foundry reports.
Commercial Success Despite Technical Shortcomings
Remarkably, these issues haven't impacted commercial performance. Oblivion Remastered became 2025's third best-selling U.S. game after just one week, surpassed only by Monster Hunter: Wilds and Assassin's Creed: Shadows following its surprise April 22 launch.
The Unreal Engine 5 overhaul brings significant visual and gameplay improvements including enhanced animations, revamped interfaces, expanded dialogue, and improved lip-sync technology. These substantial changes have led some fans to argue the project qualifies more as a remake than remaster.
Player Resources and Community Discoveries
The community has already compiled valuable guidance for newcomers, including warnings about completing Kvatch before level scaling makes it extremely challenging. Adventurous players have even discovered ways to explore regions beyond Cyrodiil like Valenwood and Hammerfell.
For those diving into the remaster, comprehensive resources are available including interactive maps, complete walkthroughs for all questlines, character creation guides, and PC cheat codes.
