Oftentimes, video games are delayed because the project hasn’t fully come together, riddled with performance issues or game-breaking bugs. But that’s not the case with Avowed, according to Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer. He pushed back Obsidian’s upcoming RPG because this holiday season was too crowded for the company.
Speaking with Game File (via VGC), Spencer discussed Avowed’s delay to February, noting Xbox currently has the benefit of a packed holiday season with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hate, and next month’s Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (not to mention Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024). This allowed Xbox to space out releases and give Avowed its own time to shine next year.
“We didn’t move it because Obsidian needed the time,” Spencer said. “They’ll use the time.”
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As such, Spencer worked with Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty on scheduling out game releases and working with the Game Pass team. “We said, ‘OK, let’s make sure we pace this out a little better.’”
Avowed is now slated to launch on PC and Xbox Series X|S on February 18, 2025. It’s not a barren month by any means, as other big games scheduled then include Civilization VII and Monster Hunter Wilds.
Earlier this year, Obsidian revealed that Avowed will run at 30fps on Xbox Series X, enabling “juicier visuals.” The developer is promising possible endings in Avowed that “number in the double digits.” GameSpot got an hour with the RPG in August, coming away with the impression that Avowed is like Skyrim mixed with Annihilation.