Latest news with #Virtuos'
Engadget
4 days ago
- Business
- Engadget
Virtuos, the studio behind Oblivion Remastered, is reportedly laying off staff
Virtuos, the studio that developed The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered , is reportedly laying off seven percent of its staff, or around 300 employees, according to Gauthier Andres, a reporter and co-founder at Origami . The studio has provided support on a number of large game projects — including a recent patch for Cyberpunk 2077 — and employs over 4,200 people across the US, Europe and Asia. The brunt of the layoffs are happening to Virtuos employees in China, where Andres reports that around 200 positions are being eliminated. Virtuos' teams in France, who were primarily responsible for the surprise release of Oblivion Remastered back in April, are also expected to be impacted. Besides reviving Bethesda classics, Virtuos has contributed work to the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and several ongoing live service games, like Dune: Awakening and Sea of Thieves . Nothing about the company's output or the critical reception of its games would suggest it needs to conduct layoffs, but that reflects the current precarious state of the games industry. Even having theoretically steady work doing post-release support and game remasters isn't enough. Virtuos' layoffs follows the sweeping cuts Microsoft made to its Xbox division in early July. Microsoft reportedly cancelled games, like Rare's long-in-development Everwild , and shutdown whole studios, like The Initiative. Romero Games, which had an unannounced funding deal with Microsoft, was also forced to cancel its current project, though it hopes to find a new publishing partner.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake is real, according to developer screenshots
It looks like that long-rumored remake of Bethesda's Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is actually real, according to a report by Eurogamer. There are actual screenshots of the game in action that were published on developer Virtuos' website. Even cooler? Eurogamer suggests that the game will be shadow-dropped next week for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The same report also indicates it'll be available on Game Pass. Fans on Reddit and elsewhere began poking around on the developer's website and reportedly found a treasure trove of in-game images, which included comparison screenshots to the original game from 2006. Eurogamer has collected these images on imgur to preserve them for posterity. It has also been corroborated that the screenshots do come from Virtuos' server. We've reached out to Bethesda and will update this post when we hear back. This remake has been bouncing around the rumor mill since 2020. Initial reports pegged it as a simple remaster, but a former Virtuos employee claimed it was a full remake back in 2023. It's reportedly being built using Unreal Engine 5. That same employee also suggested that several gameplay systems have been completely reworked, including stamina, archery, sneaking, blocking and hit reaction. The HUD has also supposedly been remade. All we can do now is wait for next week and see if Microsoft does indeed surprise-drop the game. If not, there's an Xbox summer showcase on June 8. Maybe we'll get some clarity at that event.
