"Avowed Blends Destiny and Skyrim Elements in Original Design"

In a revealing interview with Bloomberg, Carrie Patel, the second game director of Avowed, provided insights into the tumultuous development journey that resulted in the abandonment of two years' worth of work. Initially, Obsidian Entertainment set out to create Avowed as a blend of Destiny and Skyrim, with plans to integrate cooperative exploration within a vast open world alongside dynamic multiplayer elements.

The first teaser trailer, released in 2020, sparked enthusiasm among fans, yet it concealed the underlying truth: the game was far from finished. Mere months after the teaser's debut, the decision was made to completely overhaul the project, rendering the teaser a mere artifact of an abandoned prototype that bore little resemblance to the eventual game.

Post-reboot, Carrie Patel took the helm as game director and steered the project in a new direction. She moved away from the initial inspirations drawn from Skyrim and Destiny, discarding the open-world and multiplayer concepts. Instead, Obsidian returned to its roots, adopting a zone-based structure and concentrating on developing a rich single-player narrative deeply embedded in the Pillars of Eternity universe.

Restarting the development mid-process posed significant challenges, comparable to making a film without a script. Teams labored under uncertain conditions as the leadership endeavored to forge a unified vision. Despite these obstacles, the development continued for another four years until Avowed ultimately reached its release.