Avowed Started Development With Co-op Multiplayer Focus

Avowed is the latest project from developer Obsidian Entertainment. It is one of the many RPG titles included in the lineup of first-party Xbox games coming over the next few years.

While the game is meant to be a single-player RPG, it was initially planned as a co-op game with a multiplayer focus.

Why it matters: Obsidian Entertainment has experience with single-player titles. Therefore, a multiplayer-focused game would have put the studio out of its comfort zone, potentially leading to a poor product.

During the final part of Obsidian’s 20th-anniversary documentary, Feargus Urquhart, the founder of Obsidian Entertainment, reminisced about the decisions made during development.

He discussed various decisions in the last two decades. While some were good for the developer, others have led to some regrets. Talking about his bad decisions, Feargus Urquhart stated:

“I pushed that Avowed was going to be multiplayer, and I know in the end, it was the wrong decision to keep on pushing on it.”

Obsidian Entertainment was an independent studio at the time and wanted to sell an interesting idea to publishers. This encouraged the founder to push for a multiplayer experience with Avowed.

In the modern era, games have become more expensive to create. On this note, the founder expressed developers need interesting ideas when asking for 70 or 80 million dollars. As such, multiplayer was an intriguing idea for Avowed.

Nonetheless, the founder quickly realized that multiplayer was not the right approach for Obsidian Entertainment. The studio deviated from its strengths, focusing too much on multiplayer aspects.

A similar situation took place with Arkane Austin. Reports have claimed that Redfall had a troubled development due to its multiplayer focus, and many developers at the studio were hoping that the game would never see the light of day.

With Avowed having shifted direction, Obsidian Entertainment may have saved its latest game from a similar fate.

Following the realization, Obsidian Entertainment quickly shifted focus to making a game that utilized the studio’s experience with RPG titles. This has led to the current version of Avowed, with Xbox fans worldwide excited about the 2024 release.