Oblivion and the Shadowdrop

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion will be getting a remaster announced and released next week. It’s not yet official, but a combination of leakers and images found on the developer’s website have all but confirmed it. The response? “This is awesome, but why aren’t they making us wait for it?!”

Xbox are no strangers to a shadow drop. Hi-Fi Rush is the biggest example. Ninja Gaiden 2 got a remake this year. Things will quite regularly appear on Game Pass with no prior announcement, including the rather random port of Octopath Traveller. This is not a new thing for them.

The presumption seems to be that these tend to be products that won’t benefit from an extended marketing cycle. These are games that nobody wants to see year after year, broken down by feature and explained to death. More games should avoid it, frankly, but the sweet spot is hard to find.

But Oblivion is an Elder Scrolls game, the first offline Elder Scrolls released on consoles since Skyrim. Yes, it’s a remaster, but after nearly twenty years (sorry), a remaster will be practically new. For generations of people, this franchise started with its fifth entry. Anything ‘new’ will have to live up to that.

The developers seem to know that too. The rumours are that on top of graphics, parts of Oblivion’s gameplay will be updated too. That includes the combat. Whether that’s true, we’ll have to see. Luckily, the wait won’t be long. You should be able to play it by the end of next week.

How strange it is to be talking about what could amount to a major game that will be both announced and released within a week. Are people right to want to have to wait for their video games?

Shadowdropping to Oblivion

One thing is for certain: the marketing cycle is getting shorter. We see this with phones. People are talking about the new device for months before it’s finally announced and before you can take in what you’ve seen it’s in your hand. This happens year after year, with plenty of intentional leaks keeping the news cycle cycling.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has been on the tip of our tongues for five years, but Nintendo fully revealed it just earlier this month for a release in June. Mario Kart World was revealed at the same time and will release on the same day.

There was a time when PlayStation were showing the same games over and over for years. Days Gone, The Last of Us Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima. Each trailer revealed a little more of the world, of the characters, of the game. Those days are gone.

The shadowdrop isn’t exactly an answer to that. I don’t think you’ll ever see a Naughty Dog marketing cycle influenced by Apple. But marketers are getting braver, and gamers shouldn’t feel they have to wait for a product just because.

Oblivion will shadowdrop because the excitement behind it will drive purchases and downloads. It doesn’t have to prove itself. The name above the gate will do that.  And in fact, the only thing that could be done better is the constant leaks surrounding so much of what we eventually consume. With a fresher surprise, we could have a fresher response.