Until new Fallout game needs them
There’s a chance the Avowed sequel Obsidian has been working on could still see the light of day, despite the fact it has been cancelled internally and the focus shifted to a new Fallout game.
Earlier this week, Microsoft confirmed it’s laying off 1,600 Xbox employees (and another 1,600 further down the line) and letting go of four first-party teams, either so they can return to independence or be acquired by another company.
Obsidian remains under Microsoft’s wing, but it has been impacted by the job losses, like DOOM maker id Software.
Watch on YouTube
Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube171k
As part of this, the studio has started work on a new Fallout game, to more closely align with Xbox boss Asha Sharma’s vision for the platform. It was reported an Avowed sequel had to be cancelled in order for this to happen, but updated reporting from Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier clarifies there’ll still be a very small team working on the follow-up.
Schreier posted a YouTube video about the Xbox layoffs, and in it, he said a “small team” of developers will continue work on Avowed 2. Presumably, in the hopes they can get it “uncancelled”, they’re going to keep making the follow-up until the new Fallout project requires more staff.
“It was actually further along than most people would guess for a sequel to a game that came out last year,” Schreier continued. “So I think their hope is perhaps they’ll get it so close to finish that Xbox will look at it and say ‘Okay, you can finish and release this, it won’t cost that much more to finish it'”.
First launched as an Xbox Series X|S and PC exclusive, Obsidian ported Avowed over to PS5 last year. At the time, we awarded it an 8/10 review score and said: “While the game’s writing and storytelling often lack bite and excitement, its gameplay saves the day with a cracking combat system, meaningful player choice, and the enjoyable exploration of some truly stunning locales.”
