Virtuos Games has been behind some of everyone’s favorite ports and remasters of great games, and withOblivion Remastered, it’s finally getting the attention it deserves. Over the years, the studio has helped give new life to games that either deserved a second chance or just needed a little polish and touch-up to shine on newer systems.
For some projects, it did a lot of heavy lifting, and for others, it just helped smooth the edges, but either way, the studio has had its hands on some real fan favorites over the years.
The Callisto Protocol might not have gotten the reception everyone was hoping for, but it’s still a game worth experiencing. The animations and graphical fidelity are some of the best of its generation, and the setting of Black Iron Prison on a foreign planet feels very intriguing.
Developed by Striking Distance Studios with Virtuos helping out, the game is set on Jupiter’s dead moon, Callisto. The setting is dark, gritty, and very creepy at times. It is more or less a spiritual success to Dead Space, and it really nails that lonely, claustrophobic feel.
Final Fantasy 12 always felt a little different fromother Final Fantasy games, but that’s also what makes it so special. Virtuos took on the job of remastering it with The Zodiac Age version, which updated the visuals, added the Zodiac Job System that was originally Japan-only, remastered the soundtrack, and added in a few more QOL updates.
This version made it way easier for new players to enjoy without getting stuck in some of the original’s more confusing systems. Before this, Virtuos also worked on bringing Final Fantasy 10 to PS3 and then PS4, so it already had some experience with Square Enix remasters.
Beyond Good and Evil was already a very underrated and deserving game, and Virtuos helped make it even better with the 20th Anniversary Edition that was released in 2024. It added a speedrun mode, an anniversary gallery packed with original artwork and behind-the-scenes stuff, plus new cosmetics for Jade, Pey’j, and their vehicles.
It even threw in a side quest that ties into the long-awaited sequel that’s still stuck somewhere in development limbo. The story, set on a planet under alien threat, still feels fresh and ahead of its time, and the game’s charm never gets old.
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Virtuos has also provided development support on both Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, focusing on the art side of things. The world of both games is just gorgeous, with beautiful landscapes anda great sci-fi story, which has led it to now become a flagship Sony franchise.
Virtuos also helped port Horizon Zero Dawn to PC in 2020, which was a big deal since PlayStation exclusives rarely made that jump back then. As for the sequel, Nixxes handled the PC port for Forbidden West after Sony acquired it in 2021.
If you ask any Assassin’s Creed fanwhich games are the best, most of them will tell you they’re the ones featuring Ezio. Virtuos helped remaster Assassin’s Creed 2, Brotherhood, and Revelations into The Ezio Collection in 2016, making them look and play a lot smoother on consoles of that time, while also introducing them to a new generation of fans that might have missed out on these older games.
These games follow Ezio Auditore’s journey from young nobleman to legendary assassin, and they’re full of memorable characters, iconic cities like Florence and Venice, and storytelling that remains the best in the series even now.
Batman: Return to Arkham was Virtuos’ job of bringing two of the best superhero games ever made - Arkham Asylum and Arkham City - to newer consoles. The remasters upgraded lighting, character models, environments, and shaders, and even bundled in all of the previously released DLC.
Rocksteady Studios’ version of Gotham City at night looked better than ever. The tone, atmosphere, and tight combat were already amazing thanks to the studio’s original work, but Virtuos helped polish it up for a new generation.
Heavy Rain is still one of the best interactive-movie-type games, with a very immersive atmosphere. Thankfully, when Virtuos remastered it for PS4, it made sure that the tone wasn’t affected by any remaster changes, and its specific vibe didn’t get lost.
The game itself is a dark and twisty interactive drama where you try to catch the Origami Killer. It still stands as Quantic Dream’s best work for a lot of fans, and even though games like Detroit: Become Human are flashier, Heavy Rain’s emotions hit way harder.
Oblivion Remastered is easily Virtuos’ most ambitious work to date. It stands as somewhere in between a remaster and a remake. Virtuos rebuilt the character models, locations, artwork, and all other assets from scratch, but it kept most of the original voice acting and all of the gameplay code so that it still feels like good old Oblivion, with all of its janky charm and a bit of randomness with its NPCs.
The world of Cyrodiil looks way better now, but it (mostly) didn’t lose that cozy feeling that made the original so great. It still has that same great gameplay loop, which leads to getting lost in side quests that somehow eat up 100+ hours without you realizing it.
