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 unique blend of Destiny and Skyrim, aiming to merge cooperative exploration within a vast open world with dynamic multiplayer elements.
The excitement surrounding the project peaked with the release of the first teaser trailer in 2020, which sparked enthusiasm among fans. However, behind the scenes, the game was far from complete. Mere months after the trailer's debut, the decision was made to abandon the entire project and start over. As a result, the teaser now serves as a nostalgic reminder of an unreleased prototype that bears little resemblance to the final game.
After the reboot, Carrie Patel took the helm 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 developing a rich, single-player narrative deeply connected to the lore of Pillars of Eternity.
Restarting the project mid-development presented significant challenges, comparable to attempting to film a movie without a script. Teams worked relentlessly under uncertain circumstances as the leadership struggled to forge a unified vision. Despite these obstacles, the development process extended over another four years until Avowed finally reached its release.
