It’s not the easiest task, quantifiably speaking, to gauge exactly how successful a game has been when it’s released from day one on Xbox Game Pass in addition to a regular release but all signs point towards a “so far, very good” reception for Avowed, the highly-anticipated fantasy RPG from Obsidian Entertainment and Microsoft Studios.
Avowed director Carrie Patel explained that while she doesn’t “have a really firm metric” to exactify her appraisal, the reception for Avowed has been very positive with Xbox and Microsoft, which is always a good sign.
“I’ve certainly been very happy, and all the folks I’ve talked to, both at the studio level and at the Xbox and Microsoft level, have been very happy with the reception to our game – to the number of people playing it, the amount of time they’re spending in it,” Patel told Eurogamer. “But knowing that some people are coming to our game through Game Pass, some of them are purchasing on a variety of platforms, I don’t know that there is one specific metric or number I could give you.”
Patel also explained why there isn’t a romance system in Avowed, stating that it’s disheartening to see a character’s agency completely change and conform just to suit your playable character’s whims.
Screenshot from Avowed/Microsoft
“It’s always a bit of a letdown when you see a character who has a clear personality, and goals and interests, and suddenly, in the service of this romance that the player has embarked on with them, they now become the player’s yes-person; they’re happy with whatever you want and lose their sense of personhood.”
“You need an equally compelling platonic path, because it’s a shame if romance is the only right way to really get to that full level of depth with a character,” Patel continued. “The more you introduce romance as a mechanic, and the more that you build systems around it, and metrics, and ways for players to bolster and measure their affinity and affection level with other characters, the more it becomes something people engage with as a system rather than as a relationship.”
While the reception for Avowed has been very positive with Xbox and Microsoft, there isn’t yet any timetable for whether or not the game will see a multiplatform release like other big-name, former Microsoft exclusives such as Forza Horizon 5 and
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the latter of which is rumored to be heading to the Playstation 5 as soon as April 17th.
Avowed takes place in the same universe as previous Obsidian RPG Pillars of Eternity, the latter of which is a top-down isometric view, turn-based RPG as opposed to Avowed’s first-person, real-time fighting. Both games take place in the world of Eora, a rich fantasy setting with deep lore, ancient gods, humans, elves, godlikes, and various factions and cultures.
Avowed is now available for PC, Xbox Series X|S and has been playable since its February 18th launch on Game Pass.
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