Skyblivion, the massive mod that aims to rebuild all of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion in the swanky new(er) tech of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition, is once again asking for help. A message posted on Nexus Mods (via RPS) says the dev team is "on the hunt for the final, vital members of their development team to bring this massive undertaking to life."
The team is looking for "experienced mod authors and developers" with "highly specialized skill set[s]" for roles in quest creation, navmesh, interior level design and QA, 3D art, sound design, and "implementation," which requires "a high level of expertise with NifSkope and Blender (specifically using the pyNifly plugin for this phase)."
"They’re not just looking for those with technical skills, but also the ability to work collaboratively as the team regularly talks to each other, writes things down, records all tasks and issues in a shared tracker, and engages in peer review," the post states. "Because the team is in the final, critical stages of development, they are strictly looking for veterans who can hit the ground running."
It probably goes without saying, based on all that, but just in case there's a note that says it: If you're just getting into modding, "this particular recruitment drive might not be for you."
That sounds to my admittedly inexperienced ear like a lot of work left to do for a mod that was slated to go live in 2025, until a last-minute delay pushed it into 2026. An incomplete navmesh was one of the causes of that delay, and while most of '26 still lies ahead, the fact that the team is still looking for developers to take on that particular task, among numerous others, seems less than optimal.
Naturally, the call for aid has also sparked drama in the comments on the post, which have since been locked. The bulk of the responses are supportive and encouraging, and several people point out that the dev team is working on Skyblivion for free, and will give it away for free when it's done, which is pretty much where I come down. But others ask, not entirely unreasonably, if perhaps the mod isn't as close to the finish line as it seemed last year, and suggest that perhaps even a 2026 release might not happen.
I've reached out to Skyblivion project lead Rebelzize to ask about the likelihood of further delays, and will update if I receive a reply. In the meantime, here's 25 minutes of a fall forest in Cyrodiil—you have to admit that whether it's this year or not (or even beyond that), Skyblivion looks (and sounds) pretty great.
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