It has been sixteen years since the release of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Bethesda’s fifth entry in the Elder Scrolls franchise laid much of the groundwork for their game engine and design going forward; while Skyrim and Oblivion are certainly more graphically impressive, the formula on which they are based originated with Morrowind. However, during a recent interview, Todd Howard stated that the studio was unlikely to release a Morrowind remaster.
An Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Remaster
Todd Howard recently spoke with The Guardian on the topic of Fallout 76. While most of the conversation focused around the Fallout series, he also answered questions relating to Bethesda as a whole and the other projects which they are working on. When asked about Morrowind and whether he appreciated that the 2002 game was backwards compatible on Xbox One, he responded; “I’m happy that you can play Morrowind on an Xbox One, as it’s backward compatible. I’m really happy that Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and others are making it easier for people to play [older games] as they were played at the time. I actually prefer that over remasters. I’d rather you play Morrowind the way it was… I think the age is part of its identity.”
There’s certainly good points on both sides of the debate. On the one hand, it’s easy to appreciate Howard’s feeling that Morrowind should be appreciated as it currently exists; many gamers likely view Morrowind with a degree of nostalgia, and the way that it looked and played in 2002 is a big part of that. On the other hand, it’s also fair to say that many gamers appreciate revisiting old favorites which have been remastered. Indeed, remastered releases often attract new fans to the game who otherwise would have found the game difficult to get into due to its age.
Skyrim and Fallout Remastered
“For Skyrim Remastered,” explained Howard; “we had done some work on it but it was already pretty visually close. But for something like Morrowind, my personal preference is not to remaster it.” Remastering Skyrim is certainly a simpler task. Remastering Morrowind would require updating the game through sixteen years of graphical and software improvements.
Howard had similar things to say about the early Fallout games as well. Since Bethesda acquired the full rights to sell the older games, originally developed by Interplay Entertainment, some fans have wanted to see remasters of Fallout 1 and 2. “We get asked a lot to remaster Fallout 1,” stated Howard; “and I usually say, if you have a PC you can play Fallout the way it was. I think that’s how it should be.”