Xbox Game Studios has a lot of RPGs in development. FromFabletoThe Outer Worlds 2,Xbox Series X users will have plenty of big-budget RPGs to play in a few years. One RPG that turned heads on announcement was Obsidian Entertainment’s other project,Avowed, a new game set in the world ofPillars of Eternity.While Obsidian Entertainment has been tight-lipped about the game, fans may have gotten a release window thanks to a GeForce Now leak filled with notable release dates. The leak putsAvowed’s release date around July 25, 2025.
A late 2022 release date would make sense.Avowedwas first announced in the summer of 2020, meaning Obsidian will have had two and a half years to finish the game from that point. However, the release date is also interesting in conjunction with other Xbox RPGs. While many have wondered howAvowedwill fare alongsideThe Elder Scrolls 6,now thatBethesda is part of Xbox Game Studiosit seems increasingly likely thatElder Scrolls 6is years away. Instead,Avowedmight have a sci-fi rival in the form of Bethesda’sStarfield,which currently has a hard release date close the leakedAvoweddate.
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The Elder Scrolls 6 is Taking it Slow
AlthoughSkyrimhas proven to have bountiful entertainment value, lots of fans poke fun at Bethesda for repeatedly releasing newSkyrimeditions instead of just making anotherElder Scrollsgame.WhenThe Elder Scrolls 6releases, it’s undoubtedly going to pull in a huge fanbase considering how many people continue to playSkyrimafter all these years. Considering the influence Bethesda andThe Elder Scrollshave, it’s unsurprising that many have already calledTES6a daunting competitor forAvowed.
However,the same GeForce New leakssuggestThe Elder Scrolls 6won’t release until early 2024, which is very far from the potentialAvowedrelease date. Even if these dates are just placeholders that indicate windows, that’s well over a year afterAvowed’s theoretical release. If the two games are that far apart,Avowedwill have plenty of time to flourish beforeThe Elder Scrolls 6comes around.
It should also be noted that Phil Spencer saidPlayground Games’Fablerevival will release beforeThe Elder Scrolls 6.Spencer may not have said when either game will release, but considering how longFablehas gone without a confirmed release window,TES6must be miles away.Fableserves as an important gatekeeper forThe Elder Scrolls 6; as long asTES6keeps its place in line behindFable,Avowedwon’t have to worry about Bethesda’s fantasy RPG.
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Avowed’s True Rival May be Starfield
That doesn’t meanAvowedis without rival. On the contrary,The Elder Scrolls 6could be the wrong Bethesda game to compare it to. IfAvowedreleases on December 7 like leaks suggest, it’ll be out less than a month after Bethesda debutsits new spacefaring RPGStarfield.IfStarfieldis anywhere near as ambitious as Bethesda’s other franchises, odds are good that many Xbox owners will still be working their way throughStarfieldby the time Obsidian releasesAvowed.That means it might have a much harder time at launch.
At a glance,Starfieldseems like an unlikely competitor toAvowed.It’s a far-future RPG based on grounded sci-fi, meaning it has few themes and aesthetics in common with Obsidian’s game. However,Starfieldis a big RPGsimply by virtue of coming from Bethesda, which has played a major part in directing the course of the genre over the last few decades. It’s a new IP from Bethesda, which will warrant thorough investigation by lovers ofFalloutandElder Scrollsin order to gauge its potential as a new franchise.
Avowedis a little short on the unique context that helps drum up so muchStarfieldhype.Pillars of Eternityfans look forward to exploring that game’s universe again through a new type of game, and Obsidian has a reputation for producing high-quality RPGs, butAvowedcontinues to draw comparisonstoThe Elder Scrolls,which makes it harder for the game to establish a unique identity. Because ofStarfield’s position as a Bethesda newcomer, RPG fans might lean toward thatrather thanAvowedif the two games release around the same time.
How Avowed Can Still Succeed
All hope isn’t lost forAvowed,of course. If Obsidian can establish ways thatAvowedis distinct from its rivals, both mechanically and aesthetically, the game has much better odds at competing. At the time of this writing, Obsidian has revealed almost nothing aboutAvowed; comparisons toThe Elder Scrollsare mostly drawn from the reveal trailer establishingAvowedas a first-person fantasy RPG.Avowedcan still distinguish itselfby means of innovative new mechanics, a vast setting that rivals the scope ofSkyrim,environments unlike anything found inThe Elder Scrolls,and more.
Avowed’s ultimate fate is hard to predict because of how little is known about the game. While Xbox Game Studios has a lot of RPGs in the works, many of them have progressed in near-silence since they were announced.Avowed, The Elder Scrolls 6,andFablehave all operated behind closed doors, and maybe that’s indicative of each studio’s intense focus on development. A large, flashy gameplay reveal will certainly helpAvowedcompete with its potential rival inStarfield,so hopefully Obsidian has something big planned for 2022.
Avowedis in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
