The development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion began in 2002, immediately after its predecessor, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, was published. Rumors of a sequel to Morrowind started circulating in June 2004; the sequel's title was identified on September 10, 2004, the date of its official announcement. Oblivion was developed by Bethesda Game Studios, and the initial Xbox 360 and personal computer (PC) releases were co-published by Bethesda and Take-Two Interactive's subsidiary, 2K Games. According to interviews with Bethesda staff, the publisher-developer relationship—one of the few independent relations in the industry—worked well, and Bethesda was not subject to excessive corporate guidance. Initially scheduled for a November 22, 2005, release, in tandem with the Xbox 360's launch, Oblivion was delayed to a March 21, 2006, release for Windows PCs and the Xbox 360.
Developers working on Oblivion focused on providing a tighter storyline, with fewer filler quests and more developed characters. The developers sought to make information in the game world more accessible to players, making the game easier to pick up and play. Oblivion features improved AI (which Bethesda calls Radiant AI), improved physics courtesy of the Havok physics engine, and impressive graphics, taking advantage of advanced lighting and shader routines like high-dynamic-range rendering (HDR) and specular mapping. Bethesda developed and implemented procedural content creation tools in the creation of Oblivion's terrain, leading to landscapes that are more complex and realistic than those of past titles, with less of a drain on Bethesda's staff.
A PlayStation 3 version of Oblivion was released on March 20, 2007, in North America, and April 27, 2007, in Europe, following delays similar to those for the Xbox 360 release. The PlayStation 3 release was touted for its improvement over the graphics of the PC and Xbox 360 versions, although some of the improved shader routines optimized for the PlayStation 3 release were set to be ported over to the other releases through patches. A plan to distribute content through downloads paid by micropayment was initially met with criticism by customers due to its alleged low value, but later releases—at a reduced price, and with more content—proved more popular.
Business
Rumors and official announcements
The first rumors of another Elder Scrolls release after The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind began to circulate in June 2004, following Bethesda's posting of an e-mail searching for new staff. The new staff members were to participate in a team that would push "the bleeding-edge of RPG development for the PC and future-generation consoles". For those considering the job, the e-mail suggested that "knowledge of ... The Elder Scrolls [is] a plus". At the time, a member of Bethesda's staff played down the importance of the last comment, noting that Bethesda would "obviously" prefer applicants familiar with the company's products. Rumors were confirmed on July 12, 2004, when it was announced that Fallout 3 and the next Elder Scrolls title would be published by Bethesda and produced by Todd Howard. The title of the release was listed on September 10, 2004, when Bethesda officially announced the identity of the game in question: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, followed by a feature in the October 2004 issue of Game Informer. At the time of the announcement, Bethesda had been working on Oblivion for two years (since 2002), just as Bethesda was completing work on Morrowind.
Release delays
Although preliminary reports from Reuters suggested an Oblivion release in tandem with the launch of the Xbox 360 on November 22, 2005, and the original announcement of the game set a release date of Winter 2005, Take-Two Interactive announced, during a conference call with analysts on October 31, 2005, that Oblivion's release was to be delayed until the second quarter of Take-Two's fiscal year. The new schedule would put the release between February and April 2006. The delay surprised many, especially online retailers, who had begun accepting pre-orders for consoles bundled with Oblivion. News of the delay came at a time following a burst of bad news from the company, including a 60% drop in expected earnings per share, the ongoing Hot Coffee minigame controversy, worse than average sales for the company's flagship Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, sudden drops in share prices, and delays for other company products.