Fallout New Vegas, Grounded, and Pentiment developer Obsidian has responded to a question about the ongoing comparisons between its next game, Avowed, and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim by pointing to another of its previous games: The Outer Worlds.
In an interview with Game Informer, game director Carrie Patel was asked if Obsidian embraces comparisons to Skyrim or pushes against them. Patel replied by failing to namecheck Bethesda’s all-conquering fantasy role-playing game, instead suggesting fans should think about sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds instead.
“I think the best comparison is The Outer Worlds,” Patel insisted. “I think that gives a much clearer idea of the scope of the game and also the design and layout. Like The Outer Worlds, Avowed has a series of open zones that are connected and unlock over the course of the game, rather than one giant map that you can walk through from beginning to end. And yeah, in terms of the kind of the quest structure, the narrative structure, it's a lot closer to The Outer Worlds, as well.”
This tallies with previous comments from Obsidian staff about Avowed, which takes place in the same universe as the developer’s own fantasy role-playing game Pillars of Eternity. In June 2023, Obsidian boss Feargus Urquhart told PC Gamer the studio’s initial pitch was for Avowed to be a bigger, sprawling open-world fantasy role-playing game like Skyrim, but it ended up being smaller scale.
You can see why some would compare Avowed to Skyrim, though. Avowed is a first-person (although it can also be played in third-person) fantasy RPG with monsters and lots of magical combat. At face value, it has similar first-person melee and magic battles, with the character dual-wielding weapons and spells. There are dialogue choices to make, too, although you can't romance your companions.
In the same Game Informer interview, gameplay director Gabe Paramo answered the Skyrim comparison question directly, saying: “My opinion on that is I don't love it.”
Paramo continued: “Even as I've learned in my role, comparing two games, even for the team – let's forget the player for a second – even for the team it's hard to say, ‘Use this like this.’ You have to break down the mechanic more because people will grab what mechanics they think you're talking about. Without it, if you're not very clear about what it is specifically, you are trying to be inspired by another game.
“Personally, I don't love it because a lot of players can take whatever they want from those games and go, ‘It's gonna have this and this and this.’ I prefer if we just better just explain what it is our game is doing.”
Earlier this month, Obsidian seemingly accidentally revealed the Avowed release date in a hastily tweaked post on the developer’s website: November 12, 2024. Obsidian, now of course owned by Microsoft, will be at gamescom in August to show Avowed on the Xbox booth.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
