Ex-Developer Threatens Skyblivion Creators With Legal Action and Demands Addresses of Project Leaders

A project contributor is angry about the decompilation of their code.

The creators of Skyblivion—a fan-made remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion built on the TES V: Skyrim engine—recently faced a legal threat. The complaints came not from Bethesda Game Studios lawyers, but from a former project participant.

The TES Renewal Project team published a statement regarding the situation and explained that the disagreement stems from the decompilation of a former volunteer’s code. According to the modders, this was a necessary step to keep the project functioning.

After he left the project, we discussed the continued use and maintenance of his work several times. The main subject of disagreement was his objection to the decompilation of parts of his code. Our team was forced to take this step to keep the systems already built into the project operational and to fix bugs after we were cut off from access to the source code repository.

However, according to the TES Renewal Project, they failed to resolve the disagreements, and this individual “proceeded to threaten legal action.” He also “demanded the real names and home addresses of the volunteer team leaders.”

Project members noted that a “take my ball and go home” approach contradicts the open collaborative spirit of the modding community. They have already consulted with lawyers and are confident in their right to use this person’s code. However, to “spare the volunteers unnecessary stress and finally put this matter to rest,” they decided to rebuild and improve the existing systems.

Skyblivion creators threatened with lawsuit — ex-developer demands disclosure of project leaders' addresses — Image source: TES Renewal Project

The TES Renewal Project team also asked fans to show respect to all sides of the conflict:

No matter how the conflict develops behind the scenes, we still wish this former volunteer all the best and hope to resolve the situation as soon as possible and continue work on the planned release of Skyblivion.

The authors of Skyblivion have not yet specified a concrete release date for the project. It is estimated that the fan remake could be released in 2027.

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