In a revealing interview with Bloomberg, Carrie Patel, the second game director of Avowed, provided insights into the tumultuous development journey that saw two years of work being discarded. 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 features.
The excitement surrounding the first teaser trailer, which was released in 2020, belied the reality that the game was far from ready. Mere months after the trailer's debut, the decision was made to abandon the entire project and start over from scratch. This pivot rendered the teaser a mere echo of an unfulfilled prototype, one that bore no similarity to the game that would eventually be released.
After the project's reboot, Carrie Patel took the helm as game director and steered Avowed in a new direction. She moved away from the initial inspirations of Skyrim and Destiny, discarding the open-world concept and multiplayer components. Instead, Obsidian returned to its roots, adopting a zone-based structure and concentrating on developing a captivating single-player narrative deeply connected to the Pillars of Eternity universe.
The decision to restart mid-development posed significant challenges, comparable to attempting to produce a film without a script. Teams grappled with uncertainty as the leadership endeavored to solidify a clear vision for the game. Despite these obstacles, the development process extended over another four years until Avowed was finally ready for release.
