Avowed Was Originally Designed as a Blend of Destiny and Skyrim

Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed: A Development Story Marked by a Two-Year Reset

Bloomberg recently interviewed Carrie Patel, Avowed's second game director, revealing a tumultuous development journey involving the complete overhaul of two years of work. Initially, Obsidian envisioned Avowed as a blend of Destiny and Skyrim, aiming for a cooperative, massively open-world experience with multiplayer components.

The 2020 teaser trailer generated considerable fan anticipation, yet it masked the game's far-from-finished state. A decision was made to scrap the entire project and begin again from scratch. The trailer now serves as a reminder of a discarded prototype, vastly different from the final release.

Patel, taking the director's reins after the reboot, significantly altered the game's direction. She moved away from the Skyrim and Destiny influences, abandoning the open-world design and multiplayer features. Instead, Obsidian returned to its established zone-based structure, focusing on a captivating single-player narrative deeply rooted in the Pillars of Eternity universe.

This mid-development restart presented monumental obstacles, comparable to filmmaking without a script. Teams worked diligently amidst uncertainty as leadership sought a unified vision. Despite these setbacks, development continued for another four years before Avowed's eventual launch.