Eternity Avowed - Obsidian's first person action-RPG in the Pillars of Eternity setting

[Ismaul]

The real question I need answered is why are autistic people so hypnotized by this company in particular?

RPG Codex was started by a group of Black Isle Studios and Troika Games fans, and Obsidian started as a Black Isle successor company and hired two of the founders of Troika. Obsessing about Obsidian is part of this community's DNA.

What can change the nature of an RPG Codex?

Answer: The absolute state of Obsidian's decline.

We're in the "why even talk about their games?" phase with some people still huffing copium, but soon it'll be like with Bioware and Bethesda, we'll all know we talk about the games just to point and laugh.

 

[sosmoflux]

Indy bombed too. There is a reason MS never published any sales number, only the "player" number that's about everyone who tried it on GP.
Indy had great critical reception and word of mouth, so maybe it drove some new gamepass subscribers. I doubt that will be the case for Avowed.

Games that bomb get studios closed or at least part of their workforce laid off. We saw this with Arkane Austin and Redfall and Bioware with Veilguard.

As far as MS is concerned, the gamepass players were sufficient enough to consider it a success. That's why they're hiring for about a dozen more new positions https://www.machinegames.com/careers

Studios that fail don't get rewarded with more money.

That isn't necessarily true
Machine Games were working for a client to make Indy, so they already got thier payday
The good performance was a cherry on top, they wouldn't have taken the fall
Unlike Redfall and Veilguard which weren't licensed games but thier own games so it's totally on them

 

[Elttharion]

Indiana Jones's peak was a little over 12,000 https://steamdb.info/app/2677660/charts/

Indy bombed too. There is a reason MS never published any sales number, only the "player" number that's about everyone who tried it on GP.
Indy had great critical reception and word of mouth, so maybe it drove some new gamepass subscribers. I doubt that will be the case for Avowed.

Indy had 4 million players at release, at december/2024 gamepass had more than 34 million subscribers. Ninja Theory had a gigantic bomb with Hellblade 2 and they are still going strong.

 

[Roguey]

That isn't necessarily true
Machine Games were working for a client to make Indy, so they already got thier payday
The good performance was a cherry on top, they wouldn't have taken the fall
Unlike Redfall and Veilguard which weren't licensed games but thier own games so it's totally on them

Bethesda paid Lucasfilm for a license to do an Indiana Jones game, Lucasfilm wasn't paying them.

 

[Orange Clock]

That isn't necessarily true
Machine Games were working for a client to make Indy, so they already got thier payday
The good performance was a cherry on top, they wouldn't have taken the fall
Unlike Redfall and Veilguard which weren't licensed games but thier own games so it's totally on them

Bethesda paid Lucasfilm for a license to do an Indiana Jones game, Lucasfilm wasn't paying them.

The client he’s talking about is Todd Howard

 

[aweigh]

I'd argue Bethesda and Oblivion are more important to the Codex "DNA" than anything Troika or Black Isle. It was the reactionary stance to Oblivion's seeming 'decline' that made the Codex develop a philosophical hivemind towards game design.

 

[mediocrepoet]

How about the "laziness" of that company you did free work for, you know, the ones who who tried to make an insanely overambitious project, were unwilling to compromise on it, and in the end shipped nothing and took over 2000 people for a ride giving them a measly combat demo as compensation?

Free work? I received a salary of 1600€ per month for a year, and the only reason the project died was management drama with one of the two 50% owners of the company (his dad kept interfering in getting a publishing deal because he thought we could "get a better one" as he had no actual clue of what game publishing deals look like) who ended up ghosting the rest of us and froze the project into inaction.

The issue there was not lack of skill. In fact, all the cool engine stuff like being able to pick up all the clutter had already been implemented.

Hey, I want a refund.

 

[Stokowski]

I'd argue Bethesda and Oblivion are more important to the Codex "DNA" than anything Troika or Black Isle. It was the reactionary stance to Oblivion's seeming 'decline' that made the Codex develop a philosophical hivemind towards game design.

Perhaps Vince's brilliant review has ended up being more influential than his games.

 

[Oreshnik Missile]

Hey kiddo, want some mushrooms?

This is like that sonic move design. To quote one concerned child, "he looks like he wants to hurt me"

 

[KVVRR]

MS will just close a studio if they underperform, like what they did to Arkane Austin. Too early to say how things will go now, but Steam concurrent users just won't be any indication of success or failure here.

Microsoft will just close a studio regardless of how well their project performs. Last year they shut down Tango Gameworks despite HiFi rush selling outstandingly well apparently while ALSO being on gamepass too (admited by the games marketing lead at microsoft https://x.com/aarongreenberg/status/1649431572137779203) and being a hit with audiences despite being a completely new IP. Their reasoning? "We want to focus on high-impact titles". Even if Avowed somehow ends up being popular, do you really think it's gonna be anywhere near that description?
Using Microsoft as an indicative of a game's success when they pull this kind of thing seems pretty silly.

 

[markec]

Pretty sure that early access hurt their sales numbers as it turned into five days of people just taking shots at the game. They either did it because they knew it will underperform and wanted to milk the hardcore fans or they actually thought they had a good game on their hands and that early access would spread additional positive word of mouth. Still not as baffling as people who pay 20$ to play a single player game few days earlier.

 

[scytheavatar]

If I am in charge at Microsoft, I would demand Obsidian to stop making RPGs and make games like Grounded from now on. It seems the attitude and philosophy of modern day Obsidian makes them ill suited to make even a Kingdom Come Deliverance competitor. In the first place Obsidian has always been a studio that appeals to a niche audience so Microsoft was always setting themselves up to be disappointed if they expect they could create another New Vegas.

 

[Frozen]

Is this game for free or you losers finally manned up and not playing a shitty woke game?

Because I see almost zero clips last 20 pages making fun of it.

 

[aweigh]

MS will just close a studio if they underperform, like what they did to Arkane Austin. Too early to say how things will go now, but Steam concurrent users just won't be any indication of success or failure here.

Microsoft will just close a studio regardless of how well their project performs. Last year they shut down Tango Gameworks despite HiFi rush selling outstandingly well apparently while ALSO being on gamepass too (admited by the games marketing lead at microsoft https://x.com/aarongreenberg/status/1649431572137779203) and being a hit with audiences despite being a completely new IP. Their reasoning? "We want to focus on high-impact titles". Even if Avowed somehow ends up being popular, do you really think it's gonna be anywhere near that description?
Using Microsoft as an indicative of a game's success when they pull this kind of thing seems pretty silly.

praying Obsidian gets closed down.

 

[Jinn]

praying Obsidian gets closed down.

I guess something good might come out of these Microsoft acquisitions. Terrible American and Canadian studios that are shit, and that are banking off the hopes of longtime fans, will ultimately be shut down. Bioware, Obsidian, Arkane, Bethesda?

Frankly, if you're looking for a good CRPG these days, indie is the way to look regardless. No tears will be shed for the terrible shells of decent developers these once were.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

 

[sosmoflux]

Pretty sure that early access hurt their sales numbers as it turned into five days of people just taking shots at the game. They either did it because they knew it will underperform and wanted to milk the hardcore fans or they actually thought they had a good game on hands that early access with spread additional positive word of mouth. Still not as baffling as people who pay 20$ to play a single player game few days earlier.

They didn't think about it at all

 

[Maldoror]

Next project from Obsidian will be a 1st person Arcanum spinoff called "Obscured" where you cover up the Gnomish conspiracy and spread Ogre tolerance.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

I want a tl;dr of the story.

Are the fundamentals good and can it be salvaged?

 

[Skinwalker]

15. Feyd Rautha

 

[Hammer Of The Heretics]

I doubt Obsidian will be closed after this. We'll know whether Microsoft considers the game a success based on what they green light next. If it succeeds, they do Avowed 2 after TOW 2. If it fails, they do Grounded 2. If it fails catastrophically they cancel TOW 2, drastically reduce headcount and the survivors do Grounded 2.

 

[Ismaul]

I want a tl;dr of the story.

I've no idea aside from you being God-touched in the face, but I want to guess.

Since it's women writing, it's likely a rape + girlboss fantasy at the core. Some God molested you with his mark and now you have daddy issues. You go around punching people to try to figure out who you are, until you get face to face with your molester-daddy and kick his ass, and transform into a girlboss who takes her rape as a strength. And maybe then you spread it as an STD, becoming the molester yourself.

But nahhhh, this is probably too good of a story for NuObsidian. They'll censor themselves.

So, next option, the slop. Some trans fantasy instead. Everyone hates you cause you look different, tainted, and you kinda hate yourself. You try to figure things out and find your God-daddy, who reveals your taint is in fact a mark of purity, and everyone who doesn't accept it is a bigot, an evil facist. You go into girlboss mode to teach them a lesson, and remake the world in your tainted image. The God-trans-seed is unleashed on the whole world, and everyone becomes queer.

 

[Perkel]

It's bomba, barely moved needle from early release. OR everyone is playing on gamepass but ms doesn't release gamepass numbers so...

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Pretty sure that early access hurt their sales numbers as it turned into five days of people just taking shots at the game. They either did it because they knew it will underperform and wanted to milk the hardcore fans or they actually thought they had a good game on hands that early access with spread additional positive word of mouth. Still not as baffling as people who pay 20$ to play a single player game few days earlier.

Some of the people who paid extra for the game put those few days to good use earning money by creating videos showing how terrible Avowed is, and thereby providing Codexers and many others with amusement.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2384911704