Avowed is Obsidian Entertainment's upcoming first-person fantasy RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. Xbox's official Avowed page has details on the story, world, and combat.
Obsidian Entertainments Avowed represents the studios most ambitious project to date, combining the narrative depth of Pillars of Eternity with first-person action RPG combat. The Living Lands setting responds dynamically to player choices, with faction alliances, companion relationships, and major quest outcomes shaped by dialogue decisions and in-game actions.
The game offers extensive build variety through its skill trees, which let players specialize in melee, ranged, or magic combat or create hybrid combinations. Weapon swapping is seamless during combat, and the ability to pause mid-fight to assess the battlefield adds a tactical layer reminiscent of Obsidians isometric RPG heritage.
World and Story
Set in the Living Lands, a frontier region of Eora, Avowed's story involves a spreading plague called the Dreamscourge that is corrupting the land and its inhabitants. You play as an envoy sent by the Aedyran Empire to investigate the source of the blight, but the situation is far more complex than a simple plague. The Living Lands are a politically volatile region where multiple factions vie for control, and your choices determine which groups rise or fall.
The narrative branches significantly based on your faction alliances and companion relationships. Obsidian's signature approach to player choice is on full display: quests can be solved through combat, diplomacy, stealth, or creative use of abilities. The writing is sharp, often funny, and never preachy. Companions have their own stories and moral compasses that react to your decisions.
Combat and Character Building
First-person melee combat has a satisfying weight. Swords, axes, and hammers each have distinct move sets and feel. Magic combines elements in creative ways: freezing an enemy then shattering them with a hammer strike, or casting a flame wall followed by a wind gust to spread fire across a group.
The skill tree encourages specialization but lets you respec freely, so experimenting with different builds is encouraged. You can be a pure wizard, a sword-and-board fighter, a stealthy archer, or hybrid combinations. The ability to pause mid-combat to issue commands or swap equipment adds a tactical layer that sets it apart from pure action RPGs.
Exploration and World Design
The Living Lands are dense with hand-crafted content rather than procedurally generated busywork. Every cave, ruin, and tower has a story to tell, often through environmental storytelling rather than exposition dumps. Secret areas reward careful exploration with unique weapons, lore entries, and alternative quest solutions.
Game Overview
Avowed is Obsidian doing what it does best: building a reactive world, filling it with morally complex characters, and letting you break the main quest path with creative problem-solving. For fans of The Outer Worlds and Pillars of Eternity, this is shaping up to be a highlight of 2026.
Avowed launches exclusively on Xbox Series X|S and PC, and is available through Game Pass from day one. Obsidians track record with narrative-driven RPGs suggests strong replayability through branching quests and character builds. The game represents one of Microsofts most important first-party releases for 2026.
