Avowed was originally a 'multiplayer Skyrim' before Microsoft entered the game

Avowed has been released, and while the single-player semi-open-world game has received mixed opinions, the game we see today wasn't the original intention of the developers.

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It was revealed by Carrie Patel, the game director for Avowed, in a recent interview with Bloomberg that Avowed actually endured a reboot in 2021 that pivoted the title away from its original concept of being a cross between Destiny and Skyrim where players could adventure together in a massive fantasy world. However, that same year, Microsoft purchased the developers of Avowed, Obsidian Entertainment, and it was decided the game's multiplayer component would be cut from the project.

Additionally, the leadership team was replaced, and Patel was tasked with bringing up to speed a new team and a complete reevaluation of the creative direction. More pivotal decisions were mad,e such as the switch from an open-world model to a "zone-based" model, which was a take on 2019's The Outer Worlds. The reason behind this change was to enable the development team to create distinct and dense regions over the Skyrim model where players could walk for hours and hours in an open-world environment.

"With any game you think, 'OK, we can't climb every mountain - which ones are really worth the effort for us?'" Patel said. "We knew from The Outer Worlds that we could build a really great game with 'open zones,' and that also adds some advantages in terms of letting you really theme your areas more distinctly and intentionally, and provide a sense of progression as the player's going from one environment to the next."

"Now that we've built this wonderful world, and also built this team strength and muscle memory around the content and gameplay in this world, I'd love to see us do more with it," said Patel