Oblivion Remastered Revives Paid Horse Armor DLC

In 2006, Bethesda was celebrating the triumph of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. To maintain player engagement in Cyrodiil, the studio began releasing small paid DLC expansions. Little did they realize their first April 2006 DLC – horse armor – would gallop straight into gaming infamy.

Even casual gamers have likely encountered the horse armor debate. While downloadable content existed beforehand, Oblivion's Horse Armor Pack (priced at 200 Microsoft Points/$2.50) became notorious for offering purely cosmetic upgrades with no gameplay benefits.

Nearly two decades later, cosmetic DLC has become industry standard – allowing Bethesda to revisit this infamous chapter with humor. Today's surprise release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered includes horse armor once more as part of its $10 Deluxe Edition upgrade, alongside new armor quests, weapons, digital artbooks, and soundtrack access.

The gaming community has largely embraced this self-aware callback. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella noted U.S. gamers spent over $10.4 billion on digital add-ons in 2024, quipping: "Horse Armor walked so Battle Passes could run."

The response online has been overwhelmingly humorous:

PAID HORSE ARMOR DLC. OBLIVION IS TRULY BACK. pic.twitter.com/1DJFIPzHB0
— Many A True Nerd (@ManyATrueNerd) April 22, 2025

Honestly I have to respect it. New players won't know this, but releasing the horse armor as paid DLC again is a subtle reference to when they singlehandedly ruined the industry by selling it the first time around. I kneel, Todd. https://t.co/BGwBwL3VYX
— UGS | Ajay (@AJ34_SSB) April 22, 2025

£10 for Horse Armor in #OblivionRemastered ??? There's no way that's gonna catch on pic.twitter.com/E1jqpPZFYr
— Olive_Meister (@Olive_Meisterr) April 22, 2025

The remaster launched with immediate community support – Nexus Mods already hosts several customization mods. Before diving in, players should explore debates about whether this release qualifies as a remake rather than remaster.

Our complete Oblivion Remastered guide covers everything from interactive maps to character optimization. Now tell us: