One of the first games Microsoft revealed for its next-generation Xbox Series X console was Avowed, a new first-person fantasy RPG in development at Obsidian Entertainment. Avowed's first trailer gave off serious Elder Scrolls vibes, and since it was revealed well before Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda, many have taken to calling it Xbox's version of Elder Scrolls. But while the two games may have things in common, it seems that they are actually going to be quite a bit different.
That's according to Head of Xbox Phil Spencer, who made in the comments during a recent episode of IGN Podcast Unlocked (as spotted by Pure Xbox). According to Spencer, Avowed and The Elder Scrolls "are very different." He went on to say that there will be some "distinct differences" between Avowed and traditional Elder Scrolls games. "I think Avowed is going to be fantastic when it comes out, and I want to give [Obsidian] the time and resources to build the most amazing game they've ever built."
From what little has been shown of Avowed so far, the game will be a first-person fantasy RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. The trailer teased that Avowed players will be able to use a melee weapon in one hand and cast spells with the other, but otherwise details on what else the game has in store for fans are hard to come by.
There was some hope that Avowed would be at E3 2021, and in fact, some reliable industry insiders said as much. However, Avowed wasn't featured at Xbox's E3 2021 presentation at all. Even so, it seems as though the wait for more Avowed information may not be all that long of one. Xbox will likely have a presence of some kind at Gamescom 2021, so maybe Avowed will get its time in the spotlight at that event.
Even though fans haven't seen much of the game just yet, there is some evidence to suggest that Avowed is fairly far along in development. There's even a chance that the game could be aiming for a 2022 release date, and if that's the case, one has to imagine that there will be some more substantial Avowed news of some kind this year. Then again, Obsidian Entertainment seems to have its plate full at the moment, so fans shouldn't get their hopes up too high when it comes to seeing more Avowed soon.
Besides Avowed, Obsidian is also hard at work on Grounded, its Honey, I Shrunk the Kids-style survival game that's currently available to play in early access. The studio also announced The Outer Worlds 2 at E3, so fans of the studio's work have that to look forward to as well, though it will likely be years before it actually sees the light of day.
Avowed is in development for PC and Xbox Series X.
Source: Pure Xbox