In a revealing interview with Bloomberg, Carrie Patel, the second game director of Avowed, provided insights into the tumultuous development journey that led to the discarding of two years' worth of work. Initially, Obsidian Entertainment set out to create Avowed as a blend of Destiny and Skyrim, aiming to merge cooperative exploration of a vast open world with robust multiplayer features.
The excitement around the first teaser trailer, released in 2020, was palpable among fans, yet it concealed the truth: the game was far from finished. Mere months after the trailer's launch, the decision was made to scrap the project entirely and begin afresh. This left the teaser as a mere artifact of an unreleased prototype, one that would not reflect the final game in any way.
After the reboot, Carrie Patel took over as game director and reimagined the project. She moved away from the initial inspirations of Skyrim and Destiny, discarding the open-world and multiplayer elements. Instead, Obsidian returned to their strengths, adopting a zone-based structure and concentrating on a rich, single-player narrative deeply connected to the lore of Pillars of Eternity.
Restarting the development mid-project posed significant challenges, comparable to making a film without a script. Teams worked relentlessly amidst uncertainty, as the leadership struggled to forge a unified vision. Despite these obstacles, the development process extended another four years before Avowed was finally ready for release.
