In light of recent layoffs at Xbox, rumors have indicated that Obsidian Entertainment was working on a sequel to its first-person action RPG Avowed, which reportedly got cancelled in favor of a new Fallout game developed by the studio. However, former co-founder of Obsidian, Chris Avellone, has taken to social media to reaffirm that Avowed 2 has not been cancelled.
According to Avellone, Obsidian was told that the projects it currently has in development were being “re-evaluated”. The studio is still seemingly on track to deliver on its planned expansions for The Outer Worlds 2, and while full development on Avowed 2 hasn’t yet begun, developers are reportedly hoping to “re-pitch” the concept.
“Aside from other news, Obsidian employees appear to have been told all the company’s projects were being ‘re-evaluated’ today,” wrote Avellone. “It seems Grounded is still going (mostly out-sourced in Eidos Montreal anyway, so no surprise), Outer Worlds 2 expansions still planned for now (1st one is Sept), and uh, despite reports, Avowed 2 is STILL being worked on (for now) in the hopes of being ‘re-pitched’ (whatever that means).”
He went on to note that other projects were being put on pause, including a rumored game based on the Shadowrun pen-and-paper tabletop RPG being headed up by John Gonzalez. Pillars of Eternity was also not mentioned. Responding to another post about how Avowed 2 may have gotten cancelled today, Avellone said that he has been told that the studio is continuing to work on it.
“They’re still working on it as of today, according to folks at Obsidian. They’re trying to ‘re-pitch’ it when the dust settles, probably because so much work was already put into it,” he said.
It is worth noting that, while Avellone has spent quite a bit of time at Obsidian working on projects like Pillars of Eternity, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 – The Sith Lords, and Fallout: New Vegas, he left the company in 2015. This means that any information he gets is dependent on his sources that are still working at the studio. In the meantime, Avellone himself has worked as a freelance writer on a variety of projects, with his most recent contribution being Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.
In the meantime, Obsidian Entertainment was seemingly hit quite hard by Xbox’s layoffs, with reports indicating that it lost around 25 percent of its workforce. Some of the now-former employees of the studio include The Outer Worlds art director Daniel Alpert, as well as other experienced developers, and even the recruiter.
The studio’s most recent releases have included Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, and the Early Access launch of Grounded 2. Currently, the studio hasn’t made any announcement regarding potential project cancellations or that it will stop its ongoing development of Grounded 2.
Xbox had also confirmed that the division was undergoing heavy restructuring, and CEO Asha Sharma announced that a new COO had been appointed who would be directly accountable for the division’s profits and losses going forward.
