I think we are getting the best of all worlds in 2025, Xbox is releasing sequels to big IPs such as Doom and obviously massive IPs like Call of Duty, remasters of classics like Oblivion and Tony Hawk 3+4 both of which are also considered huge IPs. We're getting multiple new IPs such as Towerborne and South of Midnight. Revivals of 10+ year old beloved IPs with Xbox history like Ninja Gaiden, a sequel to a recently established IP that was fairly popular with The Outer Worlds 2. Then whatever you count Avowed as, it is some weird distinction of "not a new IP but a lot would consider it a new IP even though it isn't but most have never heard of Pillars of Eternity" Lol. We're also getting these in various sizes and scopes, from A to AA to AAA. Thus far, they've all been well received by players and released on a consistent basis, we're receiving both quality and quantity.

I get being disappointed in Gears Reloaded being a remaster of a recent Remaster but I feel like the rest is a wild reach and it's not like Microsoft is the only company who remasters the same game over and over again, Lol. I'm playing Gears Reloaded only because I didn't bother with Gears UE but I get the disappointment for those who wanted Gears 2-3 remaster (though I largely blame insiders there) but I too understand those who feel Gears Reloaded is pointless for them as it was already remastered.

Can't say I care all that much though...Been a brilliant year for me so far, between Xbox releases and Game Pass, I can't keep up, I've already saved £100+ thanks to Game Pass, I'm excited for the rest of year so I'm not going to get hung up too much on a single videogame not being exactly what I wanted...Even before I knew Gears Reloaded existed I'd still say this is one of Xbox's best publisher years ever and one of the strongest publisher line-ups overall in recent history, so Gears at worst is just an extra addition that doesn't add much but is still an addition.

Forza Motorsport | Fujimi Kaido

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— Klobrille (@klobrille.bsky.social) 5 May 2025 at 23:34

Strictly from a software standpoint, Xbox is knocking it out of the park this year. It's not only 1 division doing all the lifting, but a combination of Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, and ABK. It's a collective effort with all of them bringing something to the table. The Gears Reloaded announcement isn't anything amazing, but it didn't need to be and wasn't treated as such. This is why rumors should always be taken with a grain of salt. The Gears collection was rumored to not include multiplayer so this is better imo. Hopefully Gears 2, 3, and Judgment follow.

So The Elder Scrolls VI.

Hammerfell or High Rock? Preference? Theory?

I see a common theory that it could be both, The Elder Scrolls: Iliac Bay (Codename, Lol).

It could incorporate parts of Hammerfell and parts of High Rock but not the whole of each, with an ocean in the middle for sailing.

Honestly would be pretty awesome to have two geographically distinct regions and politically distinct regions.

I'd love them to do Glenumbra + Rivenspire + Stormhaven + Alikr Desert.

If the rumour about ship building is true then yeah there has to be somewhere to sail to. It'd be weird if it was just one land mass and a sea with no where to travel to lol. High Rock would make sense with the big bay between them. Of course they could just do hammerfell and a bunch of smaller islands out at sea.

My Oblivion bugs are starting to hit now. My character randomly started glowing blue with particles and in first person mode my camera was 1m higher than it's meant to be. Had to save in third person and restart the game to fix it. No idea what that was about. The starlight spell only works if I look at the ground too, still a GOAT. The remaster is helping me love Oblivion like I love Skyrim and fallout 3/4.

Trying to find an accurate map of the 4th era is hard, Lol. But I saw this recent one on Reddit.

• Red = Mede Empire which controls Cyrodiil, High Rock, Parts of Skyrim.
• Blue Lines = Stormcloak Rebellion
• Yellow = The Aldmeri Dominion which controls Summerset Isles, Valenwood and Elsweyr.

The Empire effectively surrendered to The Aldmeri Dominion with terms extremely favourable to The Dominion, including a large tribute of gold to be paid to the Dominion from the Empire, the outlawing of The Blades, banning the worship of Talos, allowing The Dominion to fuck around in Skyrim and ceding Southern Hammerfell to the Aldmeri Dominion.

Hammerfell weren't willing to agree to these terms though and therefore continued to fight (Hammerfell was previously aligned with The Empire) which forced The Empire to release Hammerfell as an Imperial Province in order to respect the treaty made with the Dominion because The Empire was too cowardly to continue fighting against the Dominion.

Hammerfell eventually "won", the Dominion had to withdraw from Hammerfell but they won their independence at a huge cost as Southern Hammerfell was completely destroyed. This has caused Redguards to hate both the Aldmeri Dominion for their attack and The Empire for their betrayal and abandonment.

Cue The Elder Scrolls VI and why it would be amazing to have both High Rock and Hammerfell in it. You don't need to include all of each, I'd say cut out Wrothgar and a large part of Hammerfell and since a large part of Hammerfell is devastated it would provide a good excuse to not include it all, Lol. They'd both be geographically completely different, they'd both have a different set of enemies, etc.

They'd also be completely different politically, and it could be interesting to see the relationship between High Rock and Hammerfell now, imagine if you get to choose where you're born which results in how people treat you, if you pick that you're born in High Rock and then travel to Hammerfell they treat you with distrust.

And finally, while I'd prefer High Rock from a geographical standpoint, I'd prefer Hammerfell from a story perspective if The Dominion are going to be a major antagonist, Hammerfell did what The Empire couldn't. Plus tomb raiding like Indiana Jones would be awesome, Lol. There's plenty of undiscovered secrets in Hammerfell's deserts.

They could just do all of Hammerfell though as it's geographically diverse enough (it's not just desert, Lol).

Hammerfell has a variety of environments, ranging from temperate to tropical climates. The coasts in particular are vibrant with plantlife, and biomes vary from open grassland, subtropical beaches, humid swamps, temperate mountains, and thick jungles.

I'd much rather Hammerfell from a story telling standpoint.

Lmao I've seen that bug a lot, I'm glad there's a fix otherwise it would be annoying but I've seen people so tall they can no longer hit enemies with their swords, Lol.

How the fuck have I never seen this before?

The bottom image is from Skyrim, if you clip out of bounds it allows you to go to where "Hammerfell" should be. The exact location in the bottom image, would be Taneth, which can be seen in Southern Hammerfell on maps above. That city in the distance must be Taneth.

Lol. I don't know how I've never seen this, considering it would be Southern Hammerfell then I would assume they're doing all of Hammerfell so probably no High Rock at all, but may still include Iliac Bay as the Adamantine Tower is on the Isle of Balfiera, technically the Isles of Balfiera is High Rock Province though, Lol.

Guess they could still include sailing for these small islands.

Also explains why The Elder Scrolls Online is avoiding Hammerfell like a plague.