"Avowed: A Mix of Destiny and Skyrim at Its Core"

In a candid interview with Bloomberg, Carrie Patel, the second game director of Avowed, provided insights into the tumultuous development journey that saw the team discard two years of work. Initially, Obsidian Entertainment set out to create Avowed as a blend of Destiny and Skyrim, envisioning a massive open world ripe for cooperative exploration and enriched with multiplayer dynamics.

The excitement around the project peaked with the release of the first teaser trailer in 2020, which, despite generating buzz among fans, did not reflect the true state of the game's development. Mere months after the teaser's debut, the decision was made to abandon the entire project and start over. Today, that teaser serves as a nostalgic reminder of an early prototype, a version of Avowed that will never see the light of day.

Following this pivotal reboot, Carrie Patel stepped in as game director and steered the project in a new direction. She moved away from the initial inspirations of Skyrim and Destiny, opting to eliminate the open-world and multiplayer aspects. Instead, Obsidian returned to its roots, adopting a zone-based structure and concentrating on delivering a rich, single-player narrative deeply intertwined with the lore of Pillars of Eternity.

Restarting the project mid-development posed significant challenges, comparable to making a film without a script. The development teams faced uncertain conditions as the leadership worked to forge a clear and unified vision. Despite these obstacles, it took another four years of dedicated effort before Avowed was ready for release.