Today, Microsoft held its Xbox Developer Direct 2024 event, featuring new gameplay footage of several of its upcoming games. Leading the charge was a hefty new look at Avowed‘s gameplay and world. The upcoming game from Obsidian Entertainment is going to be the developer’s answer to The Elder Scrolls, though it features the team’s usual flair for choice-based gameplay. Sadly, the dive into Avowed didn’t end with a firm release date, but the team did announce a new release window, letting fans know that the game is currently on track to release this year.
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Avowed Developer Director Deep Dive
The trailer began with another look at Avowed’s combat. Obsidian is doing everything in its power to give players complete control over how they approach each battle. That means you’ll be able to wield all kinds of different weapons in both of your hands, leading to some intriguing solutions to taking down your enemies. One thing that likely caught many fans’ eyes was when a magic user was dual-wielding wands to essentially become the fantasy version of a Wild West gunslinger.
Speaking of gunslinger, we also got to see the game’s gunplay in action. Avowed is a little more modern in its timeline, meaning you’ll be able to take down foes with good, old-fashioned gunpowder. After the combat section, the developers gave a short explanation of how choice-based quests will impact the world around you. Obviously, they didn’t give anything major, but they did run us through a side quest and show how different decisions switch up the quest’s ending.
Finally, we got to see several different regions that we’ll be exploring during the game. The developers focused on a region called Shatterscarp, which is mostly a barren desert, but also has pockets of life that stand out. The team didn’t talk too much about other regions, but we know there will be at least three because Shatterscarp is the third one players will come across. There are likely many more given Obsidian’s previous games, but we’ll have to wait and see. Fortunately, we don’t have to wait too much longer.
Avowed Release Date
As mentioned, Obsidian didn’t announce a firm release date but did confirm that it’s on schedule to release by the end of 2024. More specifically, the team is targeting this fall, which means it’ll probably be out by November, though difficulties in development could change that. Fortunately, there is still quite a bit more that Obsidian can show us to continue building hype.ย
For example, given how companion-based previous Obsidian RPGs have been, it wouldn’t be surprising if we got a deep dive into Avowed’s characters down the line. Plus, they’ll probably want to show off more about the starting point of the story and might give fans a better look at the other regions outside of Shatterscarp. Either way, Avowed will hopefully be released by the end of the year.
