"Go back and play Morrowind and tell me that's the game you want to play again," says Skyrim lead, who thinks players "will cringe" at a possible remake

1. Games
2. RPGs
3. The Elder Scrolls
4. Elder Scrolls: Morrowind

"Go back and play Morrowind and tell me that's the game you want to play again," says Skyrim lead, who thinks players "will cringe" at a possible remake News By Kaan Serin published 1 February 2026

The Bethesda veteran doubts the original source code still exists, anyway

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Remaking The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind comes with two theoretical problems, according to a former Bethesda Game Studios lead. One is that the company might not even have the original source code anymore. Two is that Bruce Nesmith, Skyrim's lead designer, thinks people would probably "cringe" playing the 20-year-old RPG.

"The problem with doing Morrowind is that I bet they don't have the original code," Nesmith guessed in an interview with Press Box. "The game is so old. I don't know if the original source code exists anymore. If it does, can you even compile it?"

"The other thing I would say is go back and play Morrowind and tell me that’s the game you want to play again," he then said, perhaps controversially. "We all have these fond memories of things that were pivotal moments in our gaming fantasy histories... but you go back and play a 20 year old game and you will cringe."

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Nesmith, who was a longtime designer at the studio for decades, even said those "cringe moments" reared their heads in last year's The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, but they were easy to ignore when being served alongside a dollop of nostalgia. "I worked on Oblivion. I'm even responsible for some of those cringe moments," he continued. "The further back you go, the more that's going to be an issue. The reality of playing Morrowind would not stand the test of time, in my opinion."

He then explained that a full remake of Morrowind might sidestep the issue, but at that point, "why not go and make something new?" Nesmith isn't opposed to seeing a "new story" set in the weird, alien lands of Morrowind, though. "You can include the giant crab palace and all of that stuff but make it new and avoid all the things that would not have survived the test of time."

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Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. CATEGORIES Xbox Xbox Series X Xbox One PC Gaming Platforms Kaan SerinFreelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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Logout Read more Bethesda returned to its 2006 RPG with Oblivion Remastered after deciding "what to modernize and what not to modernize," and it just "makes sense"    Fallout: London lead thinks Bethesda has "probably gone one game too far" with Elder Scrolls and Fallout    Skyrim lead thinks Starfield "would be talked about like the second coming" if a new studio made it    Ex-Bethesda loremaster and Skyrim lead says Starfield's main problem was not enough Todd Howard    Skyrim lead thinks Mass Effect 5 would benefit from looking to Baldur's Gate 3 or being more of a "Bethesda-style game"    If a Fallout 3 remaster is happening, I'm hoping it fixes the RPG's biggest level design issue    Latest in The Elder Scrolls Ex-Skyrim lead guesses The Elder Scrolls 6's story "will leave it undefined or leave it as neither side really won"    Skyrim lead says Game of Thrones author should say HBO "finished my work and now I want to do something new"    Oblivion Remastered's wildest bug made me choose between losing achievements or living as a fugitive    The Elder Scrolls 6 setting may have been decided when Bethesda was working on Fallout 4, former Skyrim lead teases    As an Elder Scrolls Online veteran, I'm worried its new seasonal model could kill my favorite MMORPG    Elder Scrolls Online lead says Microsoft's layoffs aren't the reason the MMO is switching over to smaller updates    Latest in News "Go back and play Morrowind and tell me that's the game you want to play again," says Skyrim lead: "You will cringe"    Steam hit Escape From Duckov gets official Escape From Tarkov collab bringing the two extraction shooter giants together    Skyrim lead thinks Starfield "would be talked about like the second coming" if a new studio made it    Blumhouse developing adaptation of The Exorcism at 1600 Penn    Ian McKellen lets slip details on how much damage Magneto does in Avengers: Doomsday    Scooby-Doo star Matthew Lillard chimes in with thoughts on Netflix’s live-action show    GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS

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