Tech experts say The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered has significant performance problems across all consoles as fans wait for a much-needed patch.
Oblivion Remastered has enjoyed a hugely successful launch, with over 4 million players and a ‘very positive’ user review rating on Steam. However, if there’s one issue that continues to crop up, it’s performance problems.
Digital Foundry has run an extensive analysis on Oblivion Remastered on all console platforms and found the game to have significant problems across the board. DF’s Thomas Morgan said of Virtuos’ Unreal Engine 5 overhaul:
No platform is spared of issues: whether it’s PS5, PS5 Pro, or either Xbox Series machine, all struggle with traversal hitches while roaming the open world. Secondly, there’s major sub-60fps frame-rates, where I’ve also discovered that performance slowly degrades with more playing time – quite possibly down to a memory leak. And finally, software freezes are the icing on the cake, with all PlayStation and Xbox platforms crashing to the system menu on loading a save one too many times.
How does this manifest itself in-game? According to DF, a “charged” playthrough with more continuous play time behind it performs worse than a fresh boot. Cycling through saves also introduces bugs in the charged play through, Morgan revealed. And this is particularly curious: this also leads to the camera position being too high while riding horseback. You can fix this by resetting the game.
The discovery of performance degrading over time as a result of a potential memory leak is of particular concern. The crashes on loading a save too many times is a significant issue, too.
The hope of course is that Bethesda addresses these problems sooner rather than later, especially as players spend more time with the expansive fantasy role-playing game and are more likely to run into these performance problems.
“It’s a dire position for any remaster to be in and developer Virtuos needs to address the game’s stability – the crashes – as a priority,” Morgan continued.
Digital Foundry asks some tough questions in its analysis, suggesting Oblivion Remastered was “rushed to market.” There also seems to be a discrepancy between versions, with a hotfix released for Xbox Series X so far unavailable for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro.
That’s a damning assessment of Oblivion on console, but what about PC? DF had already issued its analysis of the PC version, calling its performance “dire.” It’s worth checking out DF’s analysis in full for more.
Ranking the Best Races in Oblivion
Ranking the Best Races in Oblivion
Despite the performance issues, Oblivion Remastered is a hit. It became the third best-selling game of 2025 in the U.S. after just one week on sale, having shadow-dropped on April 22. Oblivion Remastered trails only Monster Hunter: Wilds and Assassin’s Creed: Shadows at the top of the 2025 sales chart.
Oblivion Remastered, developed by remake specialist Virtuos using Unreal Engine 5, has a long list of visual and feature improvements. It runs at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second, as you’d expect, but other changes are more meaningful. Everything from the leveling systems to character creation, and combat animations to in-game menus have been improved. Meanwhile, there’s lots of new dialogue, a proper third-person view, and new lip sync technology. The changes are going down well with fans, some of whom believe Oblivion Remastered would be more accurately described as a remake. Bethesda, however, has explained why it went down the remaster route.
Now the game is out in the wild, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered players are warning newcomers to do Kvatch before the level scaling makes it an absolute nightmare. We’ve also got a report on a player who managed to escape the confines of Cyrodiil to explore Valenwood, Skyrim, and even Hammerfell, the rumored setting of The Elder Scrolls VI.
And be sure to check out our comprehensive guide to everything you’ll find in Oblivion Remastered, including an expansive Interactive Mapcomplete Walkthroughs for the Main Questline and every Guild Quest, How to Build the Perfect Character, Things to Do Firstevery PC Cheat Codeand much more.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
