When Bethesda shadow-dropped The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered amid the launch of fellow role-playing sport Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, most thought there may very well be just one winner. However, in accordance to the writer of Clair Obscur, not solely did Oblivion not hurt Clair Obscur, Clair Obscur really benefitted from Oblivion’s launch as a result of it boosted pleasure for the RPG style.
So says Kepler Interactive’s senior portfolio supervisor Matt Handrahan, who instructed The Game Business all about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s launch success towards the odds.
First, some background. RPG followers had been confronted with the tough alternative between spending tons of of hours in Oblivion’s Cyrodiil, or embarking on an expedition to take down the Paintress in Clair Obscur. The launch of the two video games in the similar week provoked each joyful and pissed off reactions from RPG followers, in addition to a cheeky remark from Kepler Interactive itself.
In an X/Twitter submit, Kepler shared an edited picture of the characters from Clair Obscur strolling into an Oblivion Gate, with the textual content “omg its like barbenheimer” in a humorous nod to the simultaneous launch of the movies Barbie and Oppenheimer in theatres on the similar day in 2023.
omg its like barbenheimer pic.twitter.com/TN1AFzdggc
— Kepler Interactive (@Kepler_Interact) April 22, 2025
Microsoft, which owns Oblivion developer Bethesda and which had closely backed Clair Obscur since its reveal at an Xbox Showcase final 12 months, additionally got here below hearth for shadow-dropping Oblivion on prime of Clair Obscur, with each video games being Game Move day-one titles.
However, in accordance to Handrahan, there was nothing to fear about. “We all the time knew that Expedition 33 had a really particular id,” Handrahan mentioned. “After I was in the press, I noticed the Western-style RPG and the Japanese-style RPG as having fairly completely different appeals and audiences. I knew loads of individuals that might play an Elder Scrolls sport that would not essentially play Remaining Fantasy and vice versa.
“Additionally, by the time that we rolled round, we had momentum of our personal and we felt fairly assured that we may stand beside it. I feel there have been different facets, like the value level we had been at and the inclusion in Game Move… so we knew we’d have lots of curiosity round the sport. We had been assured in that. And it went in addition to it probably may have accomplished in our eyes. And, really, proximity to Oblivion did not appear to hurt us in any respect. In some ways, I feel it simply drew consideration to high quality RPGs that week and everyone was pondering and speaking about the style.”
Clair Obscur has turn out to be a giant hit for Keplar and its French developer, Sandfall Interactive, promoting over 1 million copies in simply three days and posting spectacular concurrent participant numbers on Steam. It’s accomplished so effectively that French President Macron has praised the improvement workforce.
Bethesda has introduced Oblivion Remastered has seen over 4 million gamers since launch, however hasn’t introduced a gross sales determine. It too has seen large Steam concurrent participant numbers.
The Game Enterprise quoted information from Ampere that exhibits 35% of Clair Obscur gamers additionally performed Oblivion remastered, which implies there was important overlap. A whole lot of that has to do with each video games launching in Game Move, with the overlap share dropping for Steam and PlayStation 5 gamers.
We’ve bought a lot extra on Oblivion Remastered, together with a report on a participant who managed to escape the confines of Cyrodiil to discover Valenwood, Skyrim, and even Hammerfell, the rumored setting of The Elder Scrolls VI.
We have additionally bought a complete information to all the things you may discover in Oblivion Remastered, together with an expansive Interactive Map, full Walkthroughs for the Essential Questline and each Guild Quest, How to Construct the Excellent Character, Issues to Do First, each PC Cheat Code, and rather more.
As for Clair Obscur, ensure to try our ideas for the essential issues to know earlier than heading into the sport.
Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You possibly can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.