Oop! Obsidian leaks Avowed's release date after the Xbox showcase — here's when you (maybe) can play
What you need to know
Avowed is the next big RPG in development at Obsidian Entertainment, the beloved studio behind games like Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, The Outer Worlds, and Grounded (among others).
It got a new story trailer during the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, but in it, the game's release window was still listed as "2024."
Hours after the showcase, however, a blog post about the trailer from Obsidian was posted that stated the game's release date is November 12, 2024. Obsidian quickly edited the post to remove mention of this date, but not before fans caught wind.
Currently, there's no concrete confirmation if this is truly the planned release date for Avowed, but it might be.
We got plenty of big news about multiple upcoming Xbox releases today during the Xbox Games Showcase 2024, and thanks to an accidental leak by one of the biggest developers under the Xbox Game Studios banner, we even got a little more information than we were supposed to.
That developer is Obsidian Entertainment, and the subject of the leak is none other than its next big RPG project, Avowed. In the hours following the debut of Avowed's story trailer, the studio published a blog post on its website about the video; in its text, it was stated that the fantasy title has a scheduled release date of November 12, 2024 (the trailer itself listed the same "2024" release window we knew about already).
Obsidian was quick to edit the post and remove the mention of this specific date, but not before gamers caught wind of the leak and began circulating it on social media, which is how I learned about it. As you can see in the embedded post below, the cat's out of the bag:
"The last few months at Obsidian Entertainment have been fast-paced and exciting. Since we saw you at the Xbox Developer Direct this past January, we’ve been busy with Avowed getting it ready for release on November 12, 2024," reads the original unedited quote from game director Carrie Patel. "Today, we’re thrilled to have revealed our first-ever story trailer at Xbox Games Showcase 2024, and to talk with you more about what we’ve shared."
The reason why Microsoft and Obsidian weren't ready to officially share this release date with fans during the Xbox show today isn't known, but it's possible that this is just an internal estimate not meant for the public. Alternatively, the game's release date may have changed since Patel gave this quote, which could have prompted the decision to avoid mentioning a specific date. Microsoft may have also had different plans in mind for the reveal — plans that have now been disrupted.
Avowed itself is one of my most anticipated 2024 Xbox exclusives, just under GSC Game World's STALKER 2 (that also made an appearance, by the way), and I'm incredibly excited to dive into it. I've always loved Obsidian's RPGs — Fallout: New Vegas is, without a doubt, one of the best PC games I've ever played — and since I've been hungry for a new The Elder Scrolls-style single player experience in recent months, I'm here for Avowed and its blend of ranged weapons, melee, and magic that seems like a more fluid and dynamic take on Skyrim's combat.
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Of course, I also have high hopes for Avowed's writing, especially since it's set in the world of Eora that Obsidian has been developing since Pillars of Eternity released in 2015. The story will take players to a new region of this universe known as The Living Lands, and will task them with investigating the rapid spread of a magical plague for the Aedyr Empire. Everything we've seen so far about the narrative and the game's dialogue system looks great, so I'm optimistic Obsidian will knock this aspect of Avowed out of the park.
Whenever Avowed releases, you'll be able to play it on Xbox Series X|S consoles, as well as on Windows PC via either the Microsoft Store or Valve's distribution platform Steam. Per Microsoft's Xbox exclusives policy, it will also be available day one on Xbox and PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (along with Xbox Cloud Gaming, if you have the latter).
