"Avowed: Originally a Mix of Destiny and Skyrim"

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Carrie Patel, the second game director of Avowed, provided insights into the tumultuous development journey that led to the abandonment of two years' worth of work. Initially, Obsidian Entertainment envisioned Avowed as a unique blend of Destiny and Skyrim, aiming to merge cooperative exploration in a vast open world with dynamic multiplayer elements.

The first teaser trailer, released in 2020, sparked excitement among fans. However, it concealed the truth: the game was far from ready. Mere months after the teaser's debut, the decision was made to scrap the entire project and begin afresh. Today, that teaser serves as a nostalgic reminder of an unreleased prototype that shares little with the game's final version.

After the reboot, Carrie Patel stepped in as game director and reshaped the project's direction. She moved away from the initial inspirations of Skyrim and Destiny, discarding the open-world and multiplayer aspects. Instead, Obsidian returned to their roots, adopting a zone-based structure and concentrating on delivering a rich single-player narrative deeply embedded in the Pillars of Eternity universe.

Restarting development mid-stream posed significant challenges, much like attempting to make a movie without a script. Teams worked relentlessly amidst uncertainty as the leadership strived to forge a unified vision. Despite these obstacles, it took an additional four years of development before Avowed was finally ready for release.