In an interview with PC Gamer, Xbox developer Obsidian has touched on some more Avowed details, including how the game's size and scope will stack up to other open world RPGs.
Feargus Urquhart, CEO at Obsidian, says that the team was "more focused on depth than breadth" when building Avowed's world - hinting that you should probably compare it to the team's sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds rather than something like Bethesda's Skyrim. This scale allowed the dev to work its companion system deep into the game's overall design, making sure it feels like an Obsidian game at heart.
"One thing we wanted to do with Avowed was make sure the companions felt really integral to the story. In some games they're optionally recruitable, but in Avowed they're deeply tied to the story, tied to your party…
We really wanted to create this sense that you're in this big wild frontier, you're going on this adventure of discovery, and you have this small but tight knit crew with you. The sense you're adventuring through the wilds together, sharing in the discovery and the danger. These people are just as much a part of your story as the larger events that you're getting in the middle of."
The full interview also touches on other aspects of Avowed, like how the team has worked on the feel of its fantasy-action combat over the course of development at Xbox - it's well worth a read to hear more about Avowed!
We were fairly impressed with the game's Xbox Games Showcase reveal on Sunday, and it was just real nice to actually see the game in action outside of some super old screenshots and snippets of cinematics. Obsidian's next RPG will make its way onto Xbox Game Pass in 2024.