Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity dev argues against ex-Bethesda Skyrim lead, says a Morrowind remaster would succeed — "it would sell like f***ing hot cakes"

With last year's The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered proving to be a huge hit and our sources able to confirm that remasters for Fallout 3 and New Vegas are on the way, one can't help but wonder if Xbox and Bethesda have plans to give its fan-favorite 2002 RPG, The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, a modern overhaul as well. I mean, it can't find another new way to rerelease Skyrim, right? Right?

Morrowind remains a beloved classic in the eyes of many fantasy fans, with players in love with its deep RPG systems, rich lore, and its strange, almost alien-like environments that contrast against the medieval-style settings prominent in Oblivion and Skyrim. With that said, its lack of quest markers and combat system that's highly dependent on building the right skills for your weapons and spells of choice makes it considerably more complicated and tougher to "figure out" than most recent RPGs.

For this reason, many believe a Morrowind remaster wouldn't be well-received — including former Bethesda developer and Skyrim lead designer Bruce Nesmith. "The other thing I would say is go back and play Morrowind and tell me that’s the game you want to play again," he told Press Box PR when asked about the subject. "We all have these fond memories of things that were pivotal moments in our gaming fantasy histories that we absolutely [love] but you go back and play a 20 year old game and you will cringe.

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"People even had cringe moments with the Oblivion remake but they forgave it because they’re reliving something, they’re enjoying the nostalgia. I worked on Oblivion. I’m even responsible for some of those cringe moments! The further back you go, the more that’s going to be an issue," he continued. "The reality of playing Morrowind would not stand the test of time, in my opinion."

It's an understandable view, though many have pushed back against that notion, believing that a remaster of Morrowind would perform well despite the game's polarizing quirks. One such supporter of the concept is Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity publishing director Michael "Cromwelp" Douse:

"Ok call me optimistic but there is a very technically qualified developer out there that would happily remake Morrowind with a modern combat system and it would sell like f***ing hot cakes," he wrote in a post on social media.

"Mission to find Bethesda's Bloober: go," he added in a follow-up comment. Douse is jokingly (or perhaps not?) referencing the development studio Bloober Team behind the extremely well-received Silent Hill 2 remake that blew up last year and became one of 2025's most-popular games.

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I'm definitely on Douse's side here, myself; if the success of games like Baldur's Gate 3, Elden Ring, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 prove anything, it's that players can handle — and even enjoy — friction and complexity in their RPG experiences. Sure, Morrowind is more complicated than Oblivion or Skyrim, but I believe players could be eased into it with a more streamlined UI and a better tutorial. I don't even think a "modern combat system" would be necessary.

Sadly, though, even if Bethesda wanted to remaster Morrowind in the same way Oblivion was overhauled, Nesmith says it may not be possible due to the studio potentially not having the code anymore.

"The problem with doing Morrowind is that I bet they don’t have the original code. The game is so old. I don’t know if the original source code exists anymore. If it does, can you even compile it?" he said. "When you’re looking at Oblivion, they still had the code. They could still compile it. Putting the code into the new version of the engine was a possibility."

"Now if you were to completely remake Morrowind with the Skyrim engine, to try and rebuild it from the ground up, that’s a whole other story, but that’s an entire project. That’s a whole four-year development cycle," he points out. "Why not go and make something new?"

Are you a fan of Morrowind, or have you never played the 20+ year old RPG? If it was remastered, do you think modern audiences would accept its quirks, or would you expect to see the players of today quickly turned off by them? Let me know in the comments.

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