Avowed – Official Launch Trailer
After spending six years on both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2, Urquhart is now aiming for a leaner development timeline of three to four years per project. He also emphasized the need for better-staggered release dates to give each game its own moment in the spotlight.
Studio veteran Josh Sawyer echoed these sentiments, noting that spreading out launches is crucial for preserving talent and preventing burnout. “It’s not good to release three games in the same year,” Sawyer noted, suggesting that such a logjam is usually a sign of shifting schedules gone awry.
Although the two RPGs feature vastly different themes—one a high-fantasy epic and the other a satirical space odyssey—launching them so close together meant Obsidian was essentially competing with itself. This internal friction was further complicated by a crowded market featuring heavy hitters like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Borderlands 4, and the rumored Final Fantasy Tactics revival.
With the RPG landscape becoming increasingly saturated, players need time to fully immerse themselves in these deep narratives. Obsidian appears to be absorbing the hard-earned lessons of 2025, hoping that a more measured approach will allow their future projects to reach their full potential.
