Avowed trailers, gameplay & Pillars of Eternity connection explained

Since first being teased in 2020, players have been keen for more Avowed trailers, gameplay, and how the new Obsidian RPG is connected to the Pillars of Eternity universe. After all, a fantasy role-playing game by the developer behind Fallout: New Vegas is incredibly exciting.

Thankfully, we've had some more information drops from the developer - covering not only the latest Avowed gameplay and trailers, but when the game will be launching as well.

Do we know when Avowed will launch?

We don't have an exact launch for Avowed just yet, but we know it has been given a timeframe of Autumn 2024 - confirmed during the Xbox Developer_Direct 2024.

Given that the closest launch period we were given before was just '2024', now knowing the general season it'll arrive is enough to get us a bit more excited.

Avowed trailers & gameplay

There are three official Avowed trailers at the time of writing - from when the RPG was first revealed back in 2020 all the way to the most recent direct from the developer. Although, there's also some talk of the game in the Obsidian 20th Anniversary documentary as well.

The most prominent in terms of gameplay would be the most recent Avowed Deep Dive, giving us a proper look at not only the combat system, but one of the decision-based quests as well.

Announcement trailer

The first shows a CGI clip that lasts just over a minute, painting a shadowy picture of a fantastical world of legends, magic, and monsters. As the viewer follows a burning arrow that is shot from the high walls of a castle, they are transported across the land of Eora.

We learn from the narrator that Eora is a land forged from a war that turned "heroes into queens and kings and decimated our foes". However, over time, Eora has lost its way and the sins of the people have spawned terrifying monsters which hide in the shadows.

Gameplay reveal trailer

The second trailer was shown at the Xbox Games Showcase and gave us our first full look at Avowed, showing us the game's expansive and fantastical world.

By the looks of it, players will have access to countless powerful spells and weapons. With magic that can send a fireball towards a foe, and even one that can encase an enemy in ice, it's safe to say players will have plenty of options when it comes to combat.

We also saw some of the monsters and enemies we can expect to encounter during the adventure through the Living Lands, including a terrifying bear, skeletal warriors, and a giant.

As the players, it's revealed we have access to a tremendous amount of power and we've been sent to investigate rumours of a spreading plague with a secret that threatens to destroy everything.

However, based on the narration during the trailer, it looks like the residents of the Living Lands are unsure whether to trust us just yet.

Obsidian 20th Anniversary documentary

While not a trailer, the fifth episode of the Obsidian 20th Anniversary documentary told us a little bit more about the game, including its beginnings in early development as a co-op RPG before becoming more single-player focused.

While there are a lot of comparisons to Skyrim from the gameplay we've seen, the video explains that Avowed is the developers' interpretation of a first-person RPG, and not just a reskin of the Elder Scrolls series.

The studio Head of Development, Justin Britch, also spoke on the game, claiming that "with Avowed, we focus on a lot of unique and bespoke content, deep systems, and incredible storytelling focused on characters, societies, and factions".

He also went on to say that "Avowed is the natural extension of all the things [Obsidian] care about a studio, of all the things we are great at".

Avowed Deep Dive

Dropped during the Xbox Developer_Direct in January 2024, we got a more in-depth look at Avowed's gameplay from combat variety to side quests.

Gameplay director, Gabriel Paramo, goes into Avowed's "flexible combat system that allows you to quickly swap from spellcasting and sharpshooting to melee combat". Giving you "the freedom to mix and match your loadout to fit the way you want to play from moment to moment, uninterrupted", Avowed essentially lets you switch combat styles, even in the middle of the fight, to let you better face the wide variety of enemies on the fly. 

Anyone versed in Elder Scrolls or Fallout games will feel familiar with Avowed's general combat, but they'll be moreso when seeing the deep dive's segment on side quests too.

In this demonstration's case, the player is faced with a difficult choice at the end of a quest in the game's third region - finding the bodies of fallen soldiers, needing to decide whether to confront a surviving captain for cowardice or believe his story and let him go home.

Is Avowed set in the Pillars of Eternity universe?

Avowed should be an exciting prospect for fans of Obsidian's successful Pillars of Eternity franchise, as the game will be a spin-off set in the same universe.

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For those who aren't familiar with Pillars of Eternity, the first game came out in 2015 and is a CRPG set in the magical land of Eora. The story centres around the protagonist, who discovers that they are a 'Watcher' and can see the past lives of others and interact with souls.

Is Avowed an Xbox console exclusive?

As Obsidian is now a first-party developer for Xbox, Avowed will be a console exclusive for the Xbox Series X|S whilst also being on PC, where it will be available on both Steam and the Microsoft Store.

For more on the latest Xbox exclusives, check out all there is to know about Senua's Saga Hellblade 2 release date and gameplay or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle trailers and gameplay. Otherwise, you can visit our Avowed news and guides homepage for even more essentials right here at GGRecon.