Morrowind turned 23 years old this month, and the game is more alive than ever
Ah Morrowind. The third Elder Scrolls game was released on May 1st 2002, and is still my favourite of the series. The game was later followed by the recently remastered Oblivion, and the frequently re-released Skyrim.
When I picked up the Morrowind GOTY edition at my local game store in 2004, I had no idea what I was getting into. A large, strange open world RPG, I had never played anything like it before.
And while the game and its two expansions are great on their own, my copy also came with a special, mysterious fourth disc:
This disc contains the TES Construction Set, which is the tool that Bethesda used themselves to build the entire game. This has led to a very passionate modding community creating new content for the game that, 23 years later, is still very active!
Back in 2004 this is also how I was personally introduced to the concept of videogame mods and online gaming communities, and how I got started making mods myself.
So what's been going on in the Morrowind modding community these days? A lot of things, here's some highlights!
Major projects
Tamriel Rebuilt is a massive project that's been running for over 20 years, aiming to create the rest of the Morrowind province in a way that seamlessly fits in with the original game. On May 1st 2025, the project released their new Grasping Fortune expansion, adding another large chunk of the province with many new locations, characters and quests.
It's no exaggeration to say that the new content from Tamriel Rebuilt not only exceeds that of the original game in quantity (featuring >900 quests), but often in quality as well!
There are also other impressive province projects in the works through Project Tamriel. In December 2024 they released Project Cyrodiil: Abecean Shores.
OpenMW is a modern open source engine replacer for Morrowind. While still being developed, at this stage it can smoothly run the original game, and many mods. The unofficial Modding OpenMW website features various mod lists curated specifically for OpenMW.
Many people still play on the original engine however, which continues to get a lot of love through mods relying on the Morrowind Graphics Extender and Morrowind Script Extender (MGE/MWSE), improving the game's graphics and scripting capabilities.
Community
The Morrowind Modding showcases Youtube channel by DarkElfGuy highlights many of the interesting mods released by the modding community. A cornerstone of the community!
The channel also hosts various modding events and competitions, most notably the Morrowind May Modathon. This event, featuring all sorts of challenges, prizes and unlockable achievements, encourages modders to release mods in May. It always leads to a big boost of energy and activity within the community. Almost 150 mods have been released this month so far!
Danae's blog and Youtube channel features modder interviews, modding tutorial videos, character roleplaying ideas, mod recommendations and more. I especially enjoy reading the interviews, where the modders often talk about their workflow, inspirations and motivations for modding.
The Morrowind Modding Discord is a friendly place where many members of the modding community hang out.
There's much more I could highlight in terms of specific mod projects and community efforts, but that'll be for another time! Right now I'm gearing up for my first proper playthrough of Morrowind with mods in roughly 10 years.
I'm very excited to see all the new things the community has built over the years, especially the new Grasping Fortune expansion. Expect some more Morrowind related posts soon!