In the same 20th anniversary documentary celebrating Obsidian Entertainment, the company shared some insight about the original multiplayer and co-op plans for the upcoming first-person fantasy game Avowed and why it decided to scratch these ideas.
Head of development Justin Britch explained the development side of it - noting how it got to a point where Obsidian was simply "too focused" on the co-op experience. This began impacting other areas such as the company's pipelines and also how things like conversations and quests were crafted for the game.

After working on this project "for a little bit", the team realised it wasn't focused on the "things" it was "best at" and so it made a pivot in development to ensure the title was an "Obsidian game and not something different".
Studio head and founder Feargus Urquhart also mentioned how he originally "pushed" for the title to be a multiplayer experience, but admits it was the "wrong decision". The initial idea behind this was to make it a more "interesting" game when presenting it to publishers at the time:
"When you're asking for $50, $60, $70, $80 million you've gotta have something interesting to talk about, and multiplayer made it interesting, it was sort of this idea of it's almost like the peanut butter and chocolate, and putting it together and 'wow' it must be something that's good."
The experience players can now expect from Avowed is a single-player action RPG set within the same world as the Pillars of Eternity series, and a game that will apparently be "something very unique" compared to the regular type of games within the fantasy genre.
What are your thoughts about co-op and multiplayer getting axed? Are you excited about this game's release in 2024? Comment below.
Comments 14
Little bit jealous on team green that they got Obsidian. After playing Fallout 3: New Vegas and South Park the stick of truth I can say these guys are one of the best WRPG developers in the industry.
OT: Good on them on focusing where their good at!
Thank RNGesus! Fallout 4 suffered similarly in my mind for dividing the game up. I don’t hate the settlement building and such, but I do believe they shoulda focused solely on gameplay, mechanics, and story above the settlements and that should have been the dlc instead. I want to love FO4 as much as FO3 and NV, but I just can’t because the story isn’t as drawing and the settlement building is too distracting.
So thank you Obsidian for focusing on the single player aspect first, MP can come later in a patch or dlc.
i don't mind graphics much and i will enjoy the game as long as its fun to play (i love indie games more than most AAA games), but xbox need heavy belows, i hope the graphics will be hugely upgraded not for me but for the game to have huge success and the team grew further, its a fact the most players are attracted to good graphics (certainly casuals and even gamers lets be honest)
Good decision.
There's plenty of co-op and multiplayer games, no need to spoil a games development in pursuit of another.
Just shows that Studio's are almost forced to pitch ideas that a Publisher will consider worthy of investing in, something they think will make them the most money so chase 'trends' to try and get their projects Greenlit.
Fortunately they are now 'owned' by a Publisher who is more interested in getting games out to Game Pass and letting the devs Create the games they 'really' want to make. Focus on their strengths to bring their 'best' work to the service...
Too bad it’s first person
A studio not shoehorning multiplayer into a game? What a concept.
These interviews with Obsidian read like apologies. I expect this game to be some of a kind awful when it drops. It really looks to be shaping into a disaster. 80M for this pos is nuts. If MS wants to not shut down it's gaming division it needs to reign in these ridiculous costs.
That is a decision that probably doesn't get made without Microsoft's financial security.
This is one of my most hyped games behind Starfield.
Shame, dealbreaker for me. Best of luck to them all the same though.
@Cashews
Whether the game is good or not remains to be seen.
But, historically Obsidian has built and shipped above average to great games. So this is a wait and see for me.
Your post is highly dramatic. As for the Microsoft gaming division. You don't go and spend $70 bln buying Activision and about $10 bln on other studios over the past 7 years just to shut everything down. And there seems to be a lot of good content in the pipeline even though a lot of it was delayed through covid. Hellblade II, Fable, something Gears, Clockwork Revolution, more Flight Simulator, Everwild, Outer Worlds 2, Forza Motorsport, Perfect Dark, Starfield, State of Decay 3, Indiana Jones, Elder Scrolls VI, etc. For a gaming division that is shutting down they sure are busy making games.
And pretty soon they will probably own ABK... Call of Duty, Diablo, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Spyro, Crash, etc. Doesn't look like a division shutting down at all.
Gamers seem to think these games are made overnight. The reality is that each game made with a new game engine is anywhere from 3-7 years of development. Even games based on existing engines are 2-4 years of development now-a-days. There are almost no first party studios releasing yearly games. Any first party studios releasing a lot of games have multiple studio teams. Single team first party studios are typically at least 2 years to make each game.
I like what MS is doing, they have to prove that they can release games consistently, but once they get over that hump, they should be fine. 2021 was a good year on releases, 2022 was a drought, 2023 is so far good and hopefully getting better, 2024 onward is starting to look consistent.
@NeoRatt thanks for the list of games you like zzzzzzz
I agree shutting it down would be an odd move after such large acquisitions. But MS is one of the 5 most scrutinized firms on the planet - if major investors continue to hate gaming - they may flip on a dime. They have to feel pressure to make the thing a success at some point.
My opinion on this game was my own. It looks cheap and if they spent 80M on it - it was wasted money. Maybe it will be great.
Unpopular opinion, but I think that this game could of have really benefitted from a co-op campaign.
I miss the old Halo days of being able to play the full campaign co-op with a friend or family member. I can't think of many adventure role-playing games like Skyrim with this feature (I don't count games like Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76 because of their live service nature). It would be cool if they would add it later in the form of an update or even dlc, but I won't hold my breath.
With that said, I still respect Obsidian's decision. If it didn't fit in their vision, then no point in shoehorning it in. I look forward to giving this game a go when it comes out.
Q) What are your thoughts about co-op and multiplayer getting axed?
A) It's a little disappointing to hear. I didn't expect the feature but the fact they were working on it yet dropped it is a shame. I do enjoy my co-op games, and when playing the likes of Oblivion and Skyrim before (to whom Avowed is effectively a spiritual successor), was something I would have liked to have seen in those games.
Q) Are you excited about this game's release in 2024?
A) Still excited for this game's release though; hoping to see more of it through trailers or an indepth tour of the world before then though.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...