Oblivion Remastered Is Getting A Physical Release For Xbox Series X

How big is the current install size? I'd say all signs would point to it not being the full game, what do Xbox run discs to, about 50GB max?

@Coletrain Over 120GB. Unless it ships with 3 discs it will just be a key to download the game.

@M20B25 yep, there you go then. It's not the full game 🤣 not even sure why they're doing a physical for Xbox then, it's a GP title anyway

it's also coming to ps5.

This is awesome news, it's a bit late but if the game is on disc, it should have a couple updates included at least

If this is just a download-key disc, I’d rather they not even bother.

At least the PS5 version could be a 2 disc release, since it uses higher capacity Blu-ray Discs than the Series X does.

I mean this will be nice for collectors of physical games to have but it is a bit late in coming out really.

don't care, how about fix it first so it doesn't keep crashing?

also, how is it 35 physical and 50 digital (actually, 60 as this is the deluxe edition)? those prices should be the other way around

If its 100% complete on the disk with no update required, I would buy it full price even though I dont have a xsx. I play microsoft games on PC.

@dskatter I doubt they'll do a 'double-disc' package either - they didn't with Indiana Jones.

I don't think discs or Disc drives will be around much longer so if you want to be able to redownload and play the game in 20yrs time, you may need to keep your Series X hardware. You won't be able to use it for Backwards Compatibility - although Game Pass and Cloud Saves may help, but I don't think you'll get disc drives or games releasing on disc because of the limitations of discs and the costs - games aren't going to reduce in size as Asset Quality and scale of the games aren't shrinking and so fewer games will fit on a Disc - especially on Xbox as they can't use the 100GB discs. New releases too are NOT Complete or necessarily even the 'Day 1' version that everyone who played Day 1 will experience, let alone the features, content and improvements they add over time - all 'digitally' distributed.

Of course, Oblivion is somewhat different in a lot of ways - its not 'New' as such so should be feature and Content complete, but whether its the latest 'patched' version or Day (or earlier) code being printed, I don't know. At least its not 'Cyberpunk' bad on disc that 'needs' to downloaded from the internet to be playable!

Buying on Disc may not 'preserve' your ability to play on future hardware where as buying Digital is much more likely - and enable you to play on PC too in the future (if not today). Buying Digital means the game licence is locked to your Digital Profile, one thing that will carry forward regardless of the 'generation' or Distribution method. All my Digital 360 BC games and XB1 games are available on a Series S (and X of course) but only my Series X plays my BC disc games, which still has to download the 'digital' version of to work - games don't run from disc.

Point is, Preserving the piece of plastic and Hardware to enable you to play 20-30yrs later if no way to download on current hardware exists, no way to play 'disc' on current hardware either because you 'bought' for Series X, means you have to look after your own stuff to do so. Buying Digitally may mean that I can't redownload a Series X game on a Series X Console in 20-30yrs time, but it may still let me play on Current hardware as my Digital profile gives me access to Xbox/PC versions...

@BAMozzy I mean no offense in the way I’m phrasing this, but that’s a lot of words for “It doesn’t matter if the game is on the disc or lot,” except it matters very much to me.

It really seems like people who are primarily XBox players embrace digital completely far more readily than PS folks. Just shows how well MS’s emphasis on BC via entirely different downloads with old discs basically being keys has worked.

I have zero faith in MS or Sony with long-term access to digital-only games. But that’s just me.

@Dimey I've never understood why digital costs more than physical either. Surely transport costs and materials (alone) make it more expensive than digital?...

@dskatter It wasn't just the downloads with MS, it's a combination of factors - My Digital PS4 games are ready to download as soon as I signed into my PS5 too and will likely be playable on PS6 because PS5 games will be carried forward - Sony would really struggle - but no guarantee your Physical library will, no guarantee Sony will make a console with a Physical Disc Drive in the future as discs are somewhat limited on capacity, cost money and are an environmental hazard.

I don't see any difference from keeping a disc and the hardware safe/maintained and keeping a digital game saved on my internal SSD for example if its that important. Its not as if Companies suddenly decide to shut off the Game/Console after 20yrs so there is often Months to redownload anything and or make back-ups.

I can't play Mario 64 on any current hardware because I still own the Cartridge, but I can play Gears of War 360 version on a Series S because I own a Digital licence for it. The Only way I can play the Mario 64 cart I have is on a working N64 with working N64 controllers - assuming the Cart still works after all this time. Only way I can play a LOT of my OG Xbox or PS3 games is on that Hardware - assuming the Hardware works - none of my DS3's 'work' - at least not unplugged so that makes my PS3 library 'difficult' to play.

All my Digital OG Xbox, 360 (All Games with Gold I claimed as I didn't buy Digital back then) and XB1 games were all there waiting when I set-up my Series X Day 1, ready to download and play - I could set a few up to install overnight but couldn't do that with my Physical games. With Xbox, I may have bought a game on XB1S, but on Series X, I get to download and install the Series X version and its always the latest version not an old pre-release version that's had countless updates and patches so now a completely different build.

I see it no different to Steam on PC for example - they sell Digital and all your games are locked to Steam so as long as Steam continues, you have your Games Library and access. You can't go to MS, Epic or GoG and download from their because you own a Digital PC copy. MS is more like Steam in that regard but have the 'legacy' of physical distribution as well.

Games haven't run from disc since the 360/PS3 gen so really since then, I've gradually gone from Physical Only to Digital as I think that's the future. Wherever/whatever Sony/MS go/do for their future platforms, your Digital profile and library will be too. Whether is a Physical box or Virtual hardware in the cloud, if you sign in, your digital library is there too. I can sign in on ANY Playstation 5 or Series Xbox and my Digital library is available to download...

As for Costs of Digital vs Physical - Physical doesn't make as much because of the costs in manufacturing and distribution. The reason its often cheaper is because the retailers compete for customers and instead of taking their '30%' as retailer will settle for 20% or 'less' per copy sold just to sell more than other physical retailers - if Amazon sells it £/$1 less than Game/Gamestop, they hope to sell more but then another company decides to go £/$0.50 lower and they see more sales - until the 'big' companies who buy in massive quantities all end-up on a 'lower' but same price because they can't take lower than say 18% profit per copy sold.

The rising costs as well as the environmental impact of being Plastic and fuel to distribute, dwindling sales as Digital is the most popular choice now as well its its limitations (its just a Distribution method in their eyes - they sell the 'key' to access the Software, the software is NOT yours so the Key is embedded in the Physical), so capacity is a limitation, having to 'prepare' the software or limit games to fit on Physical adds to the cost, so I can't see discs lasting much longer. This could be the last gen to have a 'Physical' media drive.

Consoles only have 1 store so they sell at retail - no competition, no need to sell lower. The more competition the better - assuming they 'sell' the same version as you buy 'multiple' versions (Xbox Console and PC version) with Xbox Play Anywhere for example but Steam or Physical copies are locked to a single platform.

PC games are Digital and often cheaper than Console despite offering potentially much higher quality graphics and Frame rates. No £10 up charge for the new 'generation' visuals that a PC beats. They are cheaper because more competing platforms/stores on PC....

The disk is going to basically serve the same purpose as a Steam Key.

@Coletrain Because they want money

Started playing but gave up after a bug that was already present on the original game based on my search online. The only solution for the bug was pretty much restarting the game, meaning I would lose more than 30h of my save... They could have fixed some of those critical bugs...

If it's not on the disc why bother

Game won't even be fully on disc, so it will be a waste of plastic and paper because Microsoft think physical buyers just want a glorified paper weight.

This practice honestly needs to stop. If it doesn't have the full game, then don't even bother making one and wasting people's time and money with this garbage..

I forget how this remaster handles the dlc Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles. I know both regular and deluxe versions come with both, but are they separate downloads or is it one big file? I ask because I’d be ok with the full base game on disc, with a download required for the DLC’s and bonus content. That’s pretty much best case scenario if we’re talking 120GB+. But for the disc to be a worthless coaster with no data? Sorry, but I have a custom spell ready for the person who made that call. $3 trillion~ and they can’t even spring for two discs…

Just... fix it before you release it. We're not asking much. I refuse losing 50hrs because of a wrist breaking bug that should have been fixed decades ago

Even though appears it’s not all on disc, I scooped. Wish there was a steelbook version

Wonders still happen. Sadly it's a game I have 0 interest in.
I would party a disc version of Hi-Fi Rush.

I was happy at first but it seems like you all said that it’s another uncomplete game on a disc… wtf… I’m not gonna buy this.

Clearly we're dealing with a practice even scummier than the Switch 2's game-key cards. At least those are upfront about their nature, and the cards aren't exactly the cheapest things around on the publisher end (case in point, even Nintendo themselves were long hesitant about using the largest size of Switch 1 game card, the rarely-used 32 GB model, due to costs--news flash, the Switch 1 version of Metroid Prime 4 uses it, if its eShop download size is any indication). These so-called "game-key discs" that have been appearing on the Switch 2's competitors are rarely, if ever, completely upfront about their nature, not to mention the media they're on are cheap enough to make full multi-disc releases more practical than even a Switch 2 game-key card release, let alone a full-on-card release. Too bad there's (currently) no Switch 2 version of this particular game, odds are we'd probably already know whether or not such a release would be using a game-key card or not at this phase...

I probably would have picked this up at launch, but not going to bother now.

@kmtrain83 The difference back then was that console games had to run from Physical media - they didn't have internal Storage until the OG Xbox released but by the PS4/XB1 gen, games have had to be 'installed' so Physical media is just a delivery system - regardless of whether someone prefers that format or not.

Another aspect, certainly where Cartridge based games are concerned, the cost of Manufacture was so much higher and completely unsustainable in an era of Rising costs.

At the end of the day though, we as Consumers bought those games to play on that Hardware - they were specific for that Platform. Those SNES or N64 games only plugged into Nintendo Hardware and you never expected those games to be 'playable' on newer/different hardware.

Even at the start of the XB1/PS4 gen, if you owned games like CoD Ghosts, BF4 or Assassins Creed: Black Flag on the previous gen, if you upgraded, you had to buy again - regardless of whether you bought digitally or physically. Of course some games did come to XB1 when they started their BC programme, but at launch, the systems didn't support BC - despite the 360/PS3 gen really being the 'birth' of Digital purchasing.

Digital has advantages - as long as you have a Digital secure Profile to log into with your Purchase history and Licences all stored with it. MS (for example) sell a 'Microsoft' Game Licence so you can play their 'Play Anywhere' games on any MS platform but others may well be just the Series Console version - but Physical may only have a licence for the Specific Hardware it was released and licensed for.

LMAO, well played Bethesda.

Just started on gamepass yesterday so that will decide if I buy it or stick with my OG modded game and continue waiting for Skyblivion. I’m not sold on the artstyle.