With everything from portable systems to competitive PC gaming rigs available for purchase, it seems like more people play video games these days than ever before. Even a growing number of celebrities play video games on a regular basis, and James McAvoy is among this list of popular figures. Known for his roles in numerous films such as Split and his recurring role in the X-Men series, the actor once had an addiction to Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.
In a recent interview with Forbes, James McAvoy revealed that he used to play Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. In fact, he played way too much of it according to the actor. Back in 2007 during the Xbox 360 era, McAvoy received the game as a gift. Soon he found himself engrossed in the game, playing for hours on end.
The actor realized he had a problem once the game started impacting his daily schedule. Instead of studying his lines for his upcoming roles, he found himself continuing to play Bethesda's vast open-world RPG into the early morning hours of the following day. McAvoy said, “I’m just staying up until 4 in the morning just playing Oblivion. And I was thinking, ‘This game is sending me to Oblivion.’"
The famous actor found himself facing a difficult decision. He knew that he needed to devote more time to his work as an actor, but he enjoyed Oblivion too much to stop playing. In an effort to remedy the problem, McAvoy took desperate measures. After playing the game until 5:35 am, the actor became so frustrated with his poor decision-making that he removed the game disc from his Xbox 360 and torched it. "I got up and I got the disc out of the Xbox 360 and I turned the gas hob on. I just put the disc on it and just watched it sort of, like, singe and melt a little bit,” McAvoy said.
After literally melting his disc that morning, McAvoy decided that he needed to turn over a new leaf and stop playing games in the manner he had with Oblivion. According to the interview with Forbes, he hardly played any video games over the following decade. However, he did admit that he started to play play Call of Duty: Warzone after the pandemic started. The actor says that he plays every couple nights with his friends and has used the game as a way of keeping in contact with them when other means of socializing were not permitted.
It’s not hard to believe that McAvoy could become addicted to Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Since the game’s launch back in 2006, it has become a popular title on numerous platforms. Set in the open-world of Cyrodiil, the game’s story focuses on stopping the portal gates of Oblivion that lead to a demonic realm from opening. Beyond the main story, the game contains numerous side-quests to explore along with many mods for players to try. Some have even argued that certain aspects of Oblivion are better than Skyrim. Regardless, it seems like McAvoy made the right decision.
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is available on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
Source: Forbes