Fans worry that Oblivion remaster will overshadow this week's new RPG

Today, with the announcement and sudden release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, RPG fans are worried about another game just days from release: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. While many people are sitting down to watch the 120 GB of Oblivion download, the indie studio behind Clair Obscur, Sandfall Interactive, is gearing up for the launch of their debut title. Both games will be available on Game Pass as well, making it an even playing field in terms of cost for many subscribers. Fans are sharing their concerns on social media. While Clair Obscur is not an Xbox Studios game like Oblivion now is, it does feel wrong to have what has amounted to a nearly year-long build up to an original RPG potentially overshadowed by a near-twenty-year-old juggernaut of a remake.

Fans share concerns that Oblivion Remaster will overshadow an original RPG this week

The Oblivion remaster has been rumored for a very long time, but the fateful day of its launch happens to be today. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, another RPG featured in several Xbox showcases, launches in just two days on April 24th. Both games are RPGs, but it’s fair to point out that the similarities stop there. While Clair Obscur is a turn-based RPG inspired by Japanese games like Chrono Trigger, the Final Fantasy series, and the Persona series, Oblivion falls squarely in the style of Western RPGs, which tend more towards open-world exploration and real-time action. These two games may be different enough that they will attract different audiences, even though they are both RPGs.

A few posts on social media have expressed their concern for the timing of this shadow drop. Ryan McCaffrey, the Senior Executive Editor at IGN, shared a meme about the situation on social media. The post reads: “The Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 team when they got the call from Microsoft:” suggesting that the team behind Clair Obscur might not be too happy with the news of Oblivion launching the same week on the same subscription service. Other posts have become common on social media, with many fans questioning the decision.

On the one hand, it’s hard to imagine a small team, with just around thirty team members according to their website, competing with one of the biggest developers of all time and the world’s biggest third-party publisher as of last year. On the other hand, this game looks awesome. While it’s not a household name like Bethesda or The Elder Scrolls, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 can still make a name for itself. The developers seem outwardly confident at least, as they shared an edited image combining Oblivion and Clair Obscur. At least on some level they are happy to share the space.

For now, we will have to wait to see how both games are received. Despite Oblivion’s great-looking remastered graphics, it’s still experiencing issues like crashes, poor performance, and stuttering. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 doesn’t have any reviews out just yet, but previews from last month were very positive. Hopefully there is room for both games this week.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

April 24, 2025

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• The Elder Scrolls (franchise)
• Bethesda