Avowed Was Originally Designed as a Blend of Destiny and Skyrim

In a revealing interview with Bloomberg, Carrie Patel, the second game director of Avowed, provided insights into the tumultuous development journey that resulted in the abandonment of two years' worth of work. Initially, Obsidian Entertainment set out to create Avowed as a blend of Destiny and Skyrim, with ambitions of cooperative exploration in a vast open world coupled with robust multiplayer features.

The first teaser trailer, released in 2020, sparked enthusiasm among fans, although it concealed the true state of the project: the game was far from finished. Mere months after the trailer's debut, the decision was made to completely overhaul the project, rendering the teaser a nostalgic reminder of an unreleased prototype that bore little to no resemblance to the eventual game.

Following this pivotal reboot, Carrie Patel stepped into the role of game director and steered the project in a new direction. She decisively moved away from the initial inspirations of Skyrim and Destiny, opting to forgo the open-world concept and multiplayer elements. Instead, Obsidian returned to its roots with a zone-based structure and concentrated on developing a captivating single-player narrative deeply intertwined with the lore of Pillars of Eternity.

Restarting the development mid-process presented significant challenges, comparable to starting a film production without a script. Teams toiled under unpredictable conditions as the leadership team endeavored to forge a unified vision. Despite these obstacles, it took an additional four years of dedicated effort before Avowed was finally ready for release.