400 People at This Massive Support Studio Worked on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered — but You Probably Don't Know They Exist

It is the driving unit down galore of your favourite video games released successful the past fewer years, but it mostly flies nether the radar. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, Cyberpunk 2077, and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater are conscionable a fewer of the galore games that were and proceed to beryllium supported by Virtuos, 1 of the largest autarkic video crippled companies successful the satellite with implicit 20 studios globally employing astir 4,000 staff. Still, the mean gamer astir apt doesn’t cognize Virtuos exists.

That’s starting to alteration though, with Virtuos’ illustration rising with each caller release. Oblivion Remastered is possibly Virtuos’ biggest task yet, and its dense engagement with its improvement was made a cardinal portion of the game’s announcement by Bethesda. Meanwhile, CD Projekt livestreams diagnostic members of the Virtuos improvement team. Looking ahead, Ken Levine’s BioShock follow-up, Judas, and Riot’s League of Legends warring crippled 2XKO, volition some travel retired with Virtuos’ help.

But it has not each been plain sailing. Last month, Virtuos laid disconnected astir 7% of its planetary workforce, oregon astir 270 staff. In a statement, Virtuos said it was "evolving to conscionable the changing needs" of its partners and the wider video games industry. Most of the layoffs affected Virtuos’ Asian workforce.

In a wide-ranging interrogation with IGN astatine gamescom 2025, Virtuos CEO Gilles Langourieux discussed the company’s history, its caller projects, and what it’s hoping to execute successful the future. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, which has gone a agelong mode to putting Virtuos connected the representation this year, was a large portion of our chat.

Virtuos CEO Gilles Langourieux.

Langourieux said Virtuos’ expertise erstwhile it came to remasters (Batman, Final Fantasy, Dark Souls Remastered) meant it was a earthy portion of the speech astir Oblivion’s return.

“We managed to person Todd Howard and his squad that we could bash it,” Langourieux began. “He had known america for a while. And past however does it work? You beryllium what you're susceptible of during a aviator phase. You present a convincing vertical portion oregon pilot. You align with the squad astatine Bethesda connected what they judge is the level of prime oregon item required to conscionable their assemblage goal, and you proceed each the mode to last ship.”

Virtuos developed Oblivion Remastered utilizing Unreal Engine 5. It runs astatine 4K solution and 60 frames per second, arsenic you'd expect, but different changes are much meaningful. Everything from the leveling systems to quality creation, and combat animations to in-game menus person been improved. Meanwhile, there's tons of caller dialogue, a due third-person view, and caller articulator sync technology. The changes went down good with fans, immoderate of whom judge Oblivion Remastered would beryllium much accurately described arsenic a remake. Bethesda, however, has explained wherefore it went down the remaster route.

Langourieux said Virtuos knew it had to usage a caller motor for Oblivion Remastered to bring the classical RPG up to day successful presumption of graphics and performance, but besides clasp the archetypal motor truthful seasoned fans would admit Oblivion’s gameplay. As Todd Howard himself described it, Bethesda was keen for the Oblivion remaster to person immoderate of that “old charm.”

“We realized that 1 of the solutions would person to beryllium to harvester the archetypal motor with a caller engine. Virtuos happens to person a agelong acquisition moving with Unreal,” Langourieux said. “We've done a fig of projects similar this wherever we harvester — it's called motor pairing — we brace 2 engines to enactment unneurotic truthful that the gameplay comes from the archetypal engine, but the rendering and the caller modern bells and whistles travel from the caller engine. And our acquisition doing that, our acquisition with Unreal, was 1 of the things we had to bring to the table.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of artists were mobilized to enactment connected Oblivion Remastered to “nail” the Oblivion creation benignant portion besides modernizing it. Virtuos had its workplace successful Paris pb the project, making technical, design, and creator choices astir the game, with the assistance of different Virtuos studios. At Bethesda, a tiny squad nether the nonstop supervision of Todd Howard monitored Virtuos’ work.

At peak, astir 400 radical astatine Virtuos worked connected Oblivion Remastered. This was a existent AAA improvement effort dispersed retired crossed a fig of years. The extremity effect was a palmy release, a video crippled played by implicit 9 cardinal radical astatine this point, and a (largely) impressed fanbase. Virtuos itself was made a portion of Bethesda’s authoritative Oblivion Remastered announcement video, which Langourieux appreciated.

“Sometimes erstwhile you tackle these kinds of projects, you interest astir talking astir a caller developer due to the fact that you're disquieted that caller developer sanction mightiness not resonate truthful good with the audience,” helium said.

“They enactment their wealth wherever their rima is by supporting america precise transparently and openly, and that has fixed america much visibility than different projects have. So recognition to them for that.”

Cyberpunk 2077, Oblivion Remastered, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater… what’s next? With each sorts of rumors swirling astir astir much Bethesda remasters, could Virtuos beryllium helping retired with, say, a Fallout remaster of immoderate description? Of course, Langourieux won’t sanction names, but did speech mostly astir what Virtuos has up its sleeve, and teased “similar” titles to Oblivion Remastered coming from the institution successful the years ahead.

“I won't beryllium capable to stock specifics,” helium began, “but what I tin accidental is that you've seen what we're susceptible of for a big, impactful remaster similar Oblivion. You tin expect much akin titles to travel retired of Virtuos successful the coming years. And you tin besides expect to spot america progressive successful expanding the beingness of large-life titles. Those would beryllium 2 directions that I'm ace excited about.”

But volition Virtuos interruption retired of its enactment enactment presumption and marque an archetypal IP of its own? Langourieux seems blessed with wherever his institution is astatine close now, insisting “not everyone aspires to beryllium the rockstar.”

“We person a batch of ambition,” Langourieux said. “We've built 1 of the largest, astir unchangeable crippled developers successful the business, and we mean to proceed doing that. We've done it by being precise wide astir what we're bully astatine and however we tin service our clients successful the industry. And there's a batch of ambition with that. Not everything is astir being the rockstar. Not everyone aspires to beryllium the rockstar. We're playing a antithetic role."

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].