Avowed launched on 18 February 2025, exclusive to PC and Xbox Series consoles, and available on Game Pass from day one. Obsidian Entertainment, the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds, and the Pillars of Eternity series, had a lot riding on it. A year on, the verdict is more nuanced than the launch discourse suggested.
What the Launch Looked Like
The review period was broadly positive. Most outlets landed in the 75 to 85 range, with praise for the world design, the combat system, and Obsidian’s signature companion writing. Criticism was directed at the relatively linear structure of what was presented as an open-world RPG, the inconsistent performance on PC at launch, and a story that, while competent, did not reach the heights of the studio’s best work.
The community reaction was louder than the reviews. Avowed arrived in a period when players were comparing every first-person RPG to Skyrim and every Obsidian game to New Vegas, which is not a comparison designed to produce satisfaction. The launch-day discourse was harsher than the game deserved.
What Patches Did
Obsidian released several significant updates in the months following launch. Performance on PC improved substantially, particularly for AMD GPU users who had experienced specific issues at launch. A photo mode was added. Quality of life changes addressed inventory management and map navigation, two areas that reviews had flagged.
By mid-2025, the technical complaints had largely been resolved. The structural criticisms remained: Avowed is not a sprawling open world and it was never going to become one via patch.
Where It Actually Stands
Avowed is a very good RPG. It is not a great one. The Living Lands is a well-crafted environment with genuine visual variety and interesting lore for players invested in the Pillars of Eternity setting. The combat, a hybrid of melee, ranged, and magic with meaningful build options, holds up through the game’s roughly 30-40 hour runtime. The companions are written with the care Obsidian reliably brings to character work.
The game’s limitation is its ambition: it plays it safe structurally, delivering a linear-ish RPG when the marketing gestured at something broader. That gap between expectation and reality coloured the launch. Experienced without that expectation, and picked up at its current reduced price, Avowed is a comfortable recommendation.
The Game Pass Factor
A significant number of players experienced Avowed via Game Pass, which changes the value calculation entirely. On a subscription, the question is not “is this worth £60” but “is this worth my time in the next month.” The answer is a clear yes.
If you skipped it at launch because of the noise, it deserves a second look. Obsidian made a solid game. The internet had a complicated relationship with their expectations of it. Those are different things.
