Avowed Would Not Have Been Single Player RPG Without Xbox Acquisition

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Xbox Helped Obsidian Stay True To Roots!

Story Highlight
  • Avowed belongs to the single-player genre but was initially developed with a multiplayer focus.
  • The team explained that it was looking for a publisher, and multiplayer gaming was highly popular at the time.
  • With Xbox now owning Obsidian Entertainment, the developers are no longer under any pressure and can make a proper single-player RPG.

Xbox has a massive pipeline for first-party games like South of Midnight, Gears of War E-Day, Indiana Jones, and more. Among these games, Avowed and Indiana Jones are slated to launch within the next six months.

Created by the developers at Obsidian Entertainment, Avowed promises an RPG adventure reminiscent of classic franchises. It blends medieval and fantasy elements, though the game initially started with a very different premise.

According to the founder of Obsidian Entertainment, the RPG began as a multiplayer project. However, it was Xbox’s acquisition that allowed the team to pivot to a single-player focus.

Why it matters: Redfall made the same mistake since multiplayer gameplay was a poor fit for the developers at Arkane Austin. This eventually led to grave consequences and resulted in the studio’s closure.

Avowed is a single-player RPG through and through, focusing on traditional elements like an open-world experience, dialogue trees, and more.

However, it could have ended up very differently. During the last part of Obsidian Entertainment’s 20th-anniversary documentary, the studio founder explained how the team planned to secure publishing for Avowed.

Since multiplayer has been all the rage recently, the developers hoped that this element would be enough to sell the concept. Fortunately, Microsoft bought the studio in 2018, and this was no longer a problem.

Avowed was going to be multiplayer. When we were still independent, it was a more interesting game to publishers.

-Feargus Urquhart

Needless to say, Xbox’s acquisition was a huge blessing for the team.

Avowed Featured
Avowed Launches In Fall 2024

Avowed has received various new details recently. The developers have confirmed that players should expect about 30 hours of playtime, making it one of the shorter RPGs. However, this could also lead to a more densely packed experience.

The game has recently made the jump to Unreal Engine 5.4, and the team is moving full steam ahead without fear of failure. This should allow the developers to realize their vision without any pressure to perform on day one.

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