Labor of Love: Fans Recreate Bethesda's Largest Game Ever -- Literally -- And You Can Get It for Free
One of the most enduring lines from the seminal 2008 Batman film “The Dark Knight” comes from the main antagonist, the Joker, while he’s sharing some of his business acumen.
“If you’re good at something, never do it for free,” the Clown Prince of Crime said, explaining why he asked for money from the mob to kill Batman, despite material wealth clearly not meaning much to the deranged super-villain.
As odd as it may be to say this, the team behind this incredible fan video game project may actually want to take some advice from the murderous clown.
Daggerfall Unity officially released on Jan. 1, and it’s quite the impressive project from a small group of fans.
Daggerfall Workshop, fans who were working on The Elder Scrolls 2’s Unity remake, has finished the project and released version 1.0 of Daggerfall Unity, implementing lots of gameplay improvements.
Play the game: https://t.co/X4xfWAP76t#games #videogames #gameindustry pic.twitter.com/jlXA8Z6pUX
— 80 LEVEL (@80Level) January 4, 2024
For the unaware, Daggerfall was the name of the second Elder Scrolls game from the hugely popular Bethesda Game Studios, the publisher behind other mega-hits like Doom, Fallout and Starfield.
The game was first released in 1996 and was a direct numerical sequel to 1994’s The Elder Scrolls: Arena.
And even by modern standards, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall is a genuinely massive game.
The in-game map is purported to be the same square mileage as Great Britain, with over 15,000 locales to explore.
The size of Daggerfall has, quite literally, become a Reddit-worthy meme (for comparison, the map of the fifth Elder Scrolls game, Skyrim, is a literal drop in the bucket compared to Daggerfall).
And now that massive, Great Britain-sized map is free for everyone to play thanks to the passionate and hard-working fans at Daggerfall Workshop.
Daggerfall Unity 1.0 Is Now Available: Experience Bethesda’s Classic Elder Scrolls Game in the Unity Engine with Improved Graphics, High-Resolution Widescreen Support, and More https://t.co/dudyhyP4kM pic.twitter.com/3KOFk844dg
— TheFPSReview (@thefpsreview) January 4, 2024
But the team at DW didn’t just recreate and remaster the massive map, the team actually added to the game with new content, quality of life improvements and more.
Elder Scrolls fans functionally received a free “definitive edition” of Daggerfall — and it’s mostly thanks to the efforts of these fans.
And make no mistake, it’s clearly a labor of love.
Gavin “Interkarma” Clayton, the key figure behind the team, has a full-time job and still found time to spearhead this project.
After Clayton bought an original copy of Daggerfall in 1996, he was hooked.
And just in case you’re doubting Clayton’s knowledge, the man actually chronicled the build of Daggerfall Unity dating all the way back to April 2009.
To play Daggerfall Unity, you will need a PC, a Steam account and a copy of the original version of Daggerfall (which is free, hence this game’s free price.)
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