Obsidian Entertainment has been celebrating its 20th anniversary in spectacular style with the release of a five-part documentary. From its humble beginnings with just five developers to its acquisition by Microsoft, fans have definitely learned a lot about the American developer. What caught many off guard, however, was the unexpected revelation that Avowed wasn’t originally planned as a single-player RPG.
Feargus Urquhart, a founding member of Obsidian and current CEO, discussed how he advocated for making Avowed a multiplayer RPG, saying:
When I look back at 20 years, there’s decisions of mine that I feel really good about and there’s decisions that I feel not so good about. One of the things where I really pushed was that Avowed was going to be multiplayer, and I kept on that for a long time. I know in the end it was the wrong decision to keep on pushing on it.
Urquhart further explained that including a multiplayer element in the game was essential to demonstrate to publishers the value of Avowed, justifying the funding Obsidian was requesting.
When we were still independent and I was selling it, it was a more interesting game to publishers. And when you’re asking for $50, $60, $70 million you’ve gotta have something interesting to talk about. Multiplayer made it interesting. It was this idea of, it’s almost like peanut butter and chocolate, putting it together, like ‘Wow it must be interesting’.
Creating multiplayer RPGs might seem easy given Larian Studios’ accomplishments with titles such as Baldur’s Gate 3 and the Divinity series. However, seasoned developers know all too well the challenges tied to developing a multiplayer RPG, both from a design and technical perspective.
Narratives typically revolve around a central protagonist, and immersive sim games predominantly succeed when they focus on single-player gameplay. Introducing another player into this equation often disrupts the immersive experience since players are rarely in sync when it comes to making decisions and executing various actions in the game.
Obsidian, known for its mastery of single-player RPGs, faced a host of issues when it ventured into multiplayer territory, as stated by Justin Britch, the head of development.
We were too focused on co-op and we were too focused on changing the way our pipelines work, and the way we write conversations and the way we do quests. We weren’t focused on the things we’re best at. And so we did make a pivot on the game, basically to refocus and make sure that it was, at the end of the day, an Obsidian game and not something different.
Obsidian gave fans a sneak peek into Avowed during the Xbox Games Showcase. Though certain concerns arose about its visuals, players are generally optimistic about the game. Avowed is set in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity, and the game’s director, Carrie Patel, explained the approach Obsidian is taking in regards to this shared universe, stating:
The thing that was both exciting and intimidating about stepping into this role on Avowed is, it’s an IP that I know but it’s a different style of game for us. Figuring out how much exactly we want to take from Pillars 1 and [sequel] Deadfire, and then how we make this game more approachable to a larger audience that maybe didn’t play the Infinity Engine games and maybe didn’t play either of the original Pillars games at all? How do we stay true to that IP but how do we create an experience that’s more approachable for a larger audience?
Pillars of Eternity was born from a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $4 million. Obsidian repaid backers with an immersive, brilliant RPG that was deemed a worthy successor to Baldur’s Gate, from which it drew inspiration. Should Obsidian carry over this same spirit to their work on Avowed, fans can rest easy knowing that the final result of Avowed will be a deeply satisfying experience once it makes its debut next year.
