Summary
After waiting for more than half of 2024 for the release of Obsidian Entertainment and Xbox Game Studios’Avowed, fans will need to wait a bit longer now, as the highly anticipated fantasy RPG has officially been delayed to February 2025. Originally, it was estimated thatAvowedwould be launching in November 2024, so the fact that initial estimations are just around the corner and the game’s official release date is now June 28, 2025 is a significant disappointment to those who have been awaiting its arrival. However, sometimes, delays such as these can be a blessing in disguise, and that may remain true ofAvowed.
While delays aren’t always a bad thing,Avowed’s is, unfortunately, a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, Microsoft’s logic in delaying the game is sound, making the last-minute decision to do so somewhat understandable. The delay may also give Obsidian some more time to polishAvowed. Unfortunately, therein lies the downside to its delay.Obsidian has been hard at work improvingAvowedafter the mediocre reception of its deep dive showcase during the Xbox Developer Direct in January, and what has been revealed since then looks promising. However,Avowed’s delay only requires more from it that it must deliver at launch.
The Pros and Cons of Avowed’s Delay
Avowed’s Delay Will Allow it to Dodge the Competition
Microsoft’s stated reason forAvowed’s delay makes perfect sense considering the stellar lineup of games coming in the latter half of 2024 and the beginning of 2025. Specifically, Microsoft chose to delayAvowedto “give players' backlogs some breathing room,” as major titles likeIndiana Jones and the Great Circle,Diablo 4’s Vessel of Hatred expansion, andStarfield’s Shattered Space DLCall have late 2024 release windows. WhileAvowedis set in thePillars of Eternityuniverse, a franchise that is already firmly established, it is still a new IP and therefore could use some distance from other highly anticipated titles. As such, its delay is for the best — at least, from one point of view.
Avowed’s Delay Only Heightens Expectations for a Polished Experience at Launch
Avowed’s delay may help it dodge competition with other games, but it simultaneously creates some unnecessary competition within itself. WithAvowednow essentially getting a minimum of another three months in the oven, expectations will be raised even higher for it to be a polished experience at launch, so it can’t afford to come out half-baked and uninspired. This rings particularly true ofAvowed’s combat, as initial impressions were lackluster and Obsidian has been committed to refining it ever since. In other words, shouldAvowed’s combat turn out to be anything less than spectacular after being given a potential few additional months of development, it could take an even harder fall than it might have if it had retained its original projected release window.
At the very least,Avowedwill need to ensure it has a smooth, bug-free launch in February, with proper PC optimization on day one to boot.Other games that experienced delaysin the past have been known to be riddled with technical issues on their release day. Many of those same games were then met with much harsher criticism, simply due to their extended development times and therefore heightened expectations from fans and critics. As such, along with a polished and worthwhile combat system,Avowedneeds to be refined in every other way as well.
Fortunately,Obsidian and Microsoftseem to know how specialAvowedwill be, and they want to ensure it receives the best treatment possible, hence the delay. That, as well as Obsidian’s commitment to makeAvowedthe experience that players hope it will be, is a good omen for the game’s launch state. Even so, perhaps it might be best for those currently awaiting its release to bridle their expectations just to be safe.
