Oblivion Remastered Becomes 2025's Most Played Game Pass Title

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered launched on April 22, 2025, and quickly became the most-played and best-selling game on Xbox Game Pass this year. Developed by Virtuos and published by Bethesda, the remaster was released for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5. It was added to Game Pass on day one and reached over four million players in just a few days.

According to TrueAchievements and Game Trends, which analyzed data from 3.1 million Xbox accounts, Oblivion Remastered had more players during its first week than any other Game Pass title released in 2025. In April alone, it had 153.4% more players than Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which ranked second. Over the entire year so far, it led the charts with 59.9% more players than Avowed, which had been the previous top game since its February launch.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, developed by Sandfall Interactive and released on April 24, also performed well. It received strong reviews, scoring 92 on Metacritic and 9.7 in user ratings. IGN gave it 9/10. The game’s turn-based combat system and Persona-inspired user interface helped it stand out. Despite that, Oblivion Remastered still surpassed it in player count by a wide margin.

The April Game Pass lineup included other games such as Crime Scene Cleaner, South of Midnight, Blue Prince, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game, Commandos: Origins, Borderlands 3, Grand Theft Auto V, and NHL 25. Among these, Crime Scene Cleaner and South of Midnight had nearly equal player numbers, separated by only 0.4%. There was a 51.8% drop in player numbers between South of Midnight and Blue Prince, showing a sharp decline after the top four.

When looking at 2025 as a whole, Oblivion Remastered remained number one. The top ten Game Pass games of the year, based on first-week player counts, included Avowed, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Atomfall, Sniper Elite: Resistance, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, Crime Scene Cleaner, South of Midnight, Balatro, and EA Sports UFC 5. In all cases, Oblivion Remastered had a clear lead.

In addition to its performance on Game Pass, Oblivion Remastered also became one of the year’s best-selling games. According to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, it reached the number three spot for dollar sales in the United States during the week ending April 26. Only Monster Hunter Wilds and Assassin’s Creed Shadows sold more. These numbers do not include Game Pass players, as subscribers are not counted in sales reports, meaning the remaster became the third-best-selling game of the year in five days, based only on purchases.

Oblivion Remastered launched at $49.99 for the standard edition, which included all original DLCs. A deluxe edition was also available for $59.99. The remaster does not have a physical release and is only available digitally. Despite being owned by Xbox, the game was also released on PlayStation 5, expanding its reach.

The remaster features updated visuals, new character models, improved combat interactions, remastered effects, and several new voice actors. Some of the original dialogue was kept, preserving the distinct tone of the 2006 version. While some remasters are seen as unnecessary, this one targeted a game nearly 20 years old that had clear room for improvement.

The success of Oblivion Remastered shows why remasters are still popular. Compared to building a new game from scratch, remastering a classic requires fewer resources but can still deliver high returns. In this case, the game appealed to both long-time fans and new players, especially through its availability on Game Pass.

Game Pass still provides good value in 2025, even with recent price hikes. Game Pass Ultimate now starts at $19.99 per month and includes access across console, PC, and cloud. The PC-only version is priced at $11.99 per month. Even with the last price increase in July 2024, the service remains popular due to frequent day-one releases and a growing catalog.

April 2025 has been one of the strongest months in Game Pass history. With games like Oblivion Remastered, Clair Obscur, and South of Midnight, players had access to several high-quality titles across genres. More big releases are on the way, including Doom: The Dark Ages, expected later in May.

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