In a candid interview with Bloomberg, Carrie Patel, the second game director of Avowed, provided insights into the tumultuous development journey that led to the abandonment of two years' worth of work. Initially, Obsidian Entertainment set out to create Avowed as a blend of Destiny and Skyrim, with ambitions to deliver cooperative exploration in a vast open world alongside robust multiplayer features.
The first teaser trailer, released in 2020, sparked enthusiasm among fans, but it concealed the truth that the game was far from being finished. Mere months after the trailer's release, the team made the tough call to completely scrap the project and begin from scratch. As a result, the teaser trailer now serves as a nostalgic reminder of an unreleased prototype that shares little to no similarity with the game that eventually launched.
After the project's reboot, Carrie Patel took the helm as game director and reshaped Avowed's direction. She moved away from the initial inspirations of Skyrim and Destiny, ditching the open-world concept and multiplayer components. Instead, Obsidian returned to their roots with a zone-based structure, emphasizing a rich single-player narrative deeply connected to the universe of Pillars of Eternity.
Restarting in the middle of development posed significant challenges, much like attempting to produce a film without a script. The teams faced relentless work under uncertain conditions as the leadership struggled to forge a clear vision. Despite these obstacles, the development process extended another four years before Avowed was finally ready for release.
