The next Elder Scrolls is coming!

By Casey Lynch Jan 18, 2007, 16:31 GMT

Oh lord! Shivering Isles is coming. Screens, details inside!

Prepare to kiss all your spare time bye-bye, the rumors are true.

Today Bethesda Softworks confirmed the upcoming release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, the official expansion for the award-winning The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Shivering Isles features more than 30 hours of new gameplay and allows you to explore an entirely new plane of Oblivion – the realm of Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness.

Shivering Isles will be released for Xbox 360 and Windows this Spring. Details are presented in the exclusive cover story for Official Xbox Magazine’s (US) February issue, which hits newsstands this week.

Here's Bliss, the capitol of Mania.

Shivering Isles adds to the existing world of Oblivion so you can continue playing with your existing save game/character, or create an all new character just to explore the new content.

The Windows version of Shivering Isles will be available at retail, while the Xbox 360 version is currently planned as a download for release through Xbox LIVE.

“We’re thrilled with the response that Oblivion has received to date and feel that Shivering Isles will offer a whole new and different experience to anyone who played and enjoyed Oblivion,” said Todd Howard, executive producer for The Elder Scrolls.

Don't be fooled by this seren nature scene. These are the forests of the Realm of Madness, crawling with who knows what. And the dungeons below the forest will reflect its twisted roots system.

Within the Realm of Sheogorath, players can explore the two extreme sides of the god’s madness – the sublimely creative and the completely psychotic. Something is happening to the Shivering Isles and Sheogorath himself looks to you to be his champion and defend his realm and its inhabitants from destruction.

Do you have the strength to survive his trials, tame a realm fraught with paranoia and despair, and wear the mantle of a God?

The Shivering Isles features a bizarre landscape split between the two sides – Mania and Dementia –filled with vast, twisting dungeons mirroring the roots of the trees they are buried within.

You’ll encounter more than a dozen new creatures including hideous insects, Flesh Atronachs, skeletal Shambles, amphibious Grummites.

This sword is called the Dawnfang, and it'll be all yours. Plus, it will level up just like you!

Throughout your adventure, you will discover all new items, ingredients, spells, and more, and have the talented craftsmen of Crucible and Bliss forge new armor and weapons just for you.

“The enthusiastic response we’ve received to our downloadable content has been overwhelming, and we’re excited to bring Oblivion fans a full expansion,” said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. “The world we’ve created for Shivering Isles is unlike anything you’ve seen or played in Oblivion and we can’t wait for folks to play it.”

Oblivion sold more than three million units in 2006 and garnered countless awards and accolades like Game of the Year and RPG of the Year honors from numerous outlets, including Spike TV’s 2006 Video Game Awards, G4’s G-phoria, the Golden Joystick Awards, GameSpot.com, ShackNews.com, Voodoo Extreme, FiringSquad.com, and many more.

Oblivion received the #1 ranking on PC Gamer’s (UK) list of the top 100 games of all time and is the highest rated Xbox 360 game of all time according to Gamerankings.com.

For more information on Oblivion, Shivering Isles, or The Elder Scrolls, visit the official web site: www.elderscrolls.com.