While yesterday's Xbox & Bethesda Game Showcase was packed with games, it did not feature Obsidian's Avowed in any kind or form, much to the disappointment of fans.
Originally unveiled almost two years ago with a trailer that nodded to Skyrim with its dual wielding of weapons and spells, the first-person RPG Avowed was supposed to be shown again last year according to Obsidian itself, but that did not happen.
With the game seemingly disappearing from radars, you may be wondering what's happening behind the scenes. According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Avowed is not in development hell but it has received a reboot of sorts between late 2020 and early 2021, and it also replaced several game directors.
- My understanding, based on conversations with multiple people close to Obsidian not named Chris Avellone, is that Avowed has gone through multiple reboots and lost/replaced several directors and leads last year. As I said on Twitter, that's why I don't expect it to be out any time in the near future. I did not say "the game is going through development hell and will never come out." But it has certainly had some real issues.
- As it turns out, Avellone was the first to mention in public that the game had lost directors. Given his history, people were understandably skeptical. But when he said on Twitter that the game keeps losing leads, he was not lying.
The current Avowed game director is believed to be Carrie Patel, who joined Obsidian in late 2013 and began working as a narrative designer on both Pillars of Eternity games, which means she is very knowledgeable when it comes to the world of Eora. Patel then also worked as a Senior Narrative Designer on Obsidian's The Outer Worlds before becoming Game Director on that game's Peril on Gorgon DLC.
Avowed won't be released in the next twelve months, since Microsoft unveiled the entire lineup during the showcase. However, it is possible it could make a late 2023 or early 2024 launch.
Meanwhile, Obsidian is still releasing two games this year: Josh Sawyer's pet project, a narrative adventure game called Pentiment due in October, and the full version of Grounded due in September.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
