Bethesda Softworks announced that Elder Scrolls: Shivering Isles, an expansion for Elder Scrolls: Oblivion will be coming to the Xbox 360 and the PC this Spring. The expansion should add more than 30 hours of gameplay to the already expansive title, and will be available through retail channels for the PC, and via Xbox Live for the Xbox 360. Given that the expansion will add a completely new realm to the Elder Scrolls universe, one expects that this expansion will be one of the largest Xbox Live add-ons to date, and possibly one of the most expensive. No mention of the add-on was made for the upcoming Playstation 3 version of the game; this could possibly be included on disc, but this doesn’t seem to be a likely option at this time.

The full press release continues below.

Bethesda Softworks Announces The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles™ — Official Expansion for Oblivion
Spring Release Planned for Official Expansion for 2006 Game of the Year as Oblivion Sales Top Three Million Units

January 18, 2007 (Rockville, MD) — Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax Media company, today 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 will be released for Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft 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.

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 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. 

“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.

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. 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.”

Released in March 2006 for Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows, Oblivion sold more than three million units in 2006. Among the countless awards and accolades it has garnered to date are 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.
The Windows version of Shivering Isles will be available at retail and is co-published by Bethesda Softworks and 2K Games, while the Xbox 360 version is currently planned for release through Xbox Live® online entertainment network by Bethesda Softworks.