Avowed Was Originally Designed as a Blend of Destiny and Skyrim

Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed: A Development Story of Two Years Lost and Four Years Found

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

The 2020 teaser trailer generated significant fan anticipation, but this masked the game's far-from-complete state. A decision was made to completely overhaul the project, resulting in the trailer representing an ultimately unreleased prototype vastly different from the final game.

Following the reboot, Patel took the helm, reimagining Avowed. The Skyrim and Destiny influences were abandoned, along with the open-world design and multiplayer features. Obsidian returned to its established zone-based structure, focusing instead on a compelling single-player narrative deeply rooted in the Pillars of Eternity universe.

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