Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed: A Development Odyssey
Bloomberg recently interviewed Carrie Patel, Avowed's second game director, revealing a tumultuous development journey involving the complete overhaul of two years' worth of work. Initially, Obsidian envisioned Avowed as a hybrid of Destiny and Skyrim, blending a vast open world with cooperative multiplayer.
The 2020 teaser trailer generated considerable fan enthusiasm, but this masked the game's far-from-finished state. A decision was made to scrap the project entirely and begin again. The teaser trailer now serves as a testament to a discarded prototype, vastly different from the final release.
Patel took the reins as game director following the reboot, fundamentally altering the project's direction. The Skyrim and Destiny influences were jettisoned, along with the open-world design and multiplayer aspects. Obsidian returned to its established zone-based structure, focusing instead on a captivating single-player narrative deeply rooted in the Pillars of Eternity lore.
This mid-development restart presented enormous difficulties, comparable to filmmaking without a script. Teams worked diligently amidst uncertainty as leadership solidified a unified vision. Despite these obstacles, development continued for another four years before Avowed's eventual launch.
