Avowed delayed to February to 'give players' backlogs some breathing room'

Original story (August 1): According to The Verge's Notepad newsletter (users may encounter a paywall) on Microsoft happenings, Obsidian's first person action RPG Avowed is about to get delayed into early 2025. The game itself is supposedly in "good shape" to meet its original November release window, but Microsoft is sheepish about overcrowding its holiday release schedule.

The Verge cites STALKER 2's delay into November as a potential motivating factor for the Avowed delay. Despite GSC Game World not being owned by Microsoft, STALKER 2 will be an Xbox (and PC) exclusive coming to Game Pass day one⁠— at least for premium subscribers . Also coming this fall from Microsoft: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Call of Duty Black Ops 6, and Diablo 4's first expansion, Vessel of Hatred.

The move makes more sense when you consider how much Microsoft has bet the farm on Game Pass⁠, with the publisher removing pressure from an already crowded fall and instead giving subscribers something to look forward to in the doldrums of January and February. Also worth considering is the planned November release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which got its big reveal as part of Microsoft's summer showcase. While the dynamics at play are very different from last year's Starfield vs. Baldur's Gate 3 matchup, avoiding another such stark RPG head-to-head may have also been on decision-makers' minds.

Avowed has been cooking for a long time, with an initial pre-rendered announcement trailer in 2020. The first-person spinoff to Pillars of Eternity looks like it could be something special, with its vibrant fantasy environments expertly evoking the Pillars games' pre-rendered worlds. It was, however, recently revealed that Obsidian went back to the drawing board on Avowed's combat , making it "more juicy" in response to criticisms of its initial reveal.