According to a new rumor, players could be playing Avowed as soon as Q2 of 2024. This would mean that the game will have six years of development on its back before release, similar to Skyrim. It will also mean that the game may release much earlier than the highly anticipated Fable 4 and Elder Scrolls 6.
As shown by the release of Elden Ring, role playing games with large, sprawling worlds with items and locations to discover are just as popular as ever. While Avowed's status as an open world has yet to be confirmed, it is rumored to have a world even larger than Skyrim's. With its release in mind, there is a possibility that Avowed may have an effect on other open world role playing games that plan on releasing around the same time.
The Possible Consequences of Avowed's Release
Avowed's release date rumors could spell delays for games with similar release dates. Throughout video game history, there has been a precedent for large studio releases to completely overshadow other games because of the amount of spotlight they take up. Developers have taken notice of this, making sure to dance around these dates and choosing just the right one to drop its games on. For example, indie studios such as Nine Dot Studios was reluctant to release the definitive edition of Outward out of worry that Elden Ring would completely eclipse it.
Some video games simply have the capability to capture the attention of the online gaming community for weeks on end. The two most notable games that could fall victim to Avowed's release date are Fable and The Elder Scrolls 6. All three games share a similar aesthetic, that being a medieval fantasy RPG with magic and monsters. Though each game has its own distinctive style, sharing close release dates may inhibit their respective sales.
Playground Games, Fable 4's developer, could fall victim to this pitfall if it is not careful. While unconfirmed, many expect Fable 4 to release some time in 2024. Because all of these games are highly-anticipated RPG titles, Fable 4 could see a delay in order to duck Avowed's release date and launch at a more opportunistic time. It is also just as likely that the same could happen with Avowed if Fable 4's official release date is announced first. With that said, there have been examples in the past of AAA titles sharing close release dates. Rise of the Tomb Raider released on the same day as Fallout 4, which did not bode well for it.
Elder Scrolls 6 is much less likely to see any kind of repercussions from a 2024 Avowed release date. This is largely due to the fact that Elder Scrolls 6 is years away, as hinted by Todd Howard. However, this could change if Obsidian Entertainment plans to release a DLC for the game around the time of Elder Scrolls 6's release. Even then, this likely would not happen because Obsidian Entertainment and Bethesda Studios are both owned by Microsoft. The companies are likely in communication with each other in some form in order to prevent conflicting release dates.
.
As of this moment, it is difficult to say if Avowed will positively or negatively affect Microsoft's other products on its release. Everything known at the moment comes from alleged rumors and possible ingame Avowed screenshots. It could even be possible that Avowed is the one that gets overshadowed by other AAA games.
Avowed is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.