Obsidian says Avowed is more than just a Skyrim clone

Avowed, the newest RPG from Fallout New Vegas makers Obsidian, started life as a Skyrim clone before turning into something rather different. Avowed’s director and Obsidian’s CEO made the comments to PC Gamer in an interview, following the RPG’s latest trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase, and the two said the studio decided to rethink Avowed’s direction early in production.

“Originally we were pitching, in essence, our Skyrim,” Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart said in the interview. “[Then] we backed up and said again: What are we good at? What’s our lane?”

The latest trailer from the Xbox Games Showcase still shows hints of that Skyrim style, but Urquhart said the answer to the questions the team asked was storytelling. The team decided against creating a sprawling, fantasy open world and decided to focus on companion stories instead of building a 64 square kilometer map. Avowed revolves around the tales of your friends and uses their stories to push the game’s main narrative forward.

“I think where Obsidian really shines as an RPG maker is with this really evocative nuanced world building, stories that are more focused on depth and breadth, and really thoughtful quest design that rewards experimentation and exploration from players,” game director Carrie Patel said. “That gives them a sense of agency. And that gives them a meaningful set of options with how they interact with the world and characters.”

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF