Starfield modders' plan to make an Elder Scrolls planet containing Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind "was genuine," but it's still scrapped due to "the community's reaction" (2024)

Before Starfield launched late last year, jokes and speculation about a potential surprise planet featuring Tamriel locales were floating about everywhere. That never came to be, but one modding project that aimed to add Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind's maps to the space epic sounded so much like an elaborate joke, the community reaction got it canceled.

"Project Tamriel is an ambitious and groundbreaking modding endeavor that aims to bring the entirety of Tamriel from The Elder Scrolls series into the expansive universe of Starfield," the mod's announcement post reads. "This project will seamlessly integrate Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind into Starfield, creating a unified and immersive experience on a single distant planet. By including iconic items, detailed maps, and beloved quests from these classic games, we are dedicated to reimagining Tamriel with a unique Starfield twist."

Many commenters guessed that the post was simply satire - an elaborate joke poking fun at similarly ambitious Bethesda conversion mods, like Skywind and Skyblivion, that have been brewing for over a decade. The post had no footage, screenshots, and text that read "[Discord server/website link]" without actual links, but it turned out to be really real for at least a couple of days.

"After sharing the initial concept with the community, it became clear that the support we were hoping for just wasn't there," modder New-Star-340 said in a statement to VG247. "Many fans voiced concerns and indicated that they were not interested in seeing this project come to fruition. In terms of the team, we were a small group of passionate modders excited about the possibilities. However, the feedback we received made us realize that the excitement we felt wasn't shared by the broader community."

"Addressing the comments suggesting the post was bait or satire, I want to emphasize that the project was genuine," New-Star-340 added. "We were truly excited about the potential of combining these beloved game worlds into one epic experience. However, given the community's reaction, we had to make the tough decision to halt development."

Since Bethesda added official modding tools to Starfield, a Skyrim-themed planet is still certainly on the table; it just won't come from the modding team above. "If another team is interested in picking up where we left off, we would certainly support their efforts," New-Star-340 continued.

Project Tamriel, if it did go ahead, wouldn't have been in our hard drives for at least another decade, and Starfield has more than enough newness in the pipeline to keep us occupied in the meantime. Todd Howard hopes the team can pump out "annual" Starfield story expansions, with the studio already "planning the one" after this year's Shattered Space DLC. The long-time Bethesda director also hinted at a "10-year horizon" for both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 as he regretted not supporting Skyrim for longer.

Speaking of mods, check out the new Starfield mod that overhauls the RPG’s financial systems and will soon let you roleplay as a fiendish Fable-style landlord.

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