Avowed Was Originally Designed as a Blend of Destiny and Skyrim

Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed: A Development Story of Two Lost Years and a Reimagined Vision

Bloomberg recently interviewed Carrie Patel, Avowed's second game director, revealing a tumultuous development journey marked by the complete overhaul of two years' worth of work. Initially, Obsidian envisioned Avowed as a hybrid of Destiny and Skyrim, blending cooperative open-world exploration with multiplayer components.

The 2020 teaser trailer, while generating considerable fan anticipation, belied the game's actual state of incompletion. A decision was made to scrap the entire project and begin again from scratch just months later. The trailer now serves as a testament to a discarded prototype, vastly different from the final release.

With the project's reboot, Patel took the helm and redefined Avowed's direction. The Skyrim and Destiny influences were jettisoned, along with the open-world design and multiplayer features. Obsidian returned to its established zone-based structure, focusing on a rich single-player narrative deeply rooted in the Pillars of Eternity universe.

This mid-development restart presented monumental challenges, likened to filmmaking without a script. Teams navigated uncertainty and intense pressure as leadership solidified a unified vision. Despite these obstacles, development continued for another four years before Avowed's eventual launch.