The main argument of the lawsuit is that “non-exempt employees”, like QA testers, weren’t paid adequately for their time despite being forced to work overtime and having meal and rest breaks denied to them. The current iteration of the lawsuit is an amended complaint, which was filed in January 2026, with the original lawsuit having been filed all the way back in October.

In this lawsuit, Obsidian is being represented by Fisher & Phillips – a law firm known for focusing primarily on corporate defense, handling aspects like mitigating corporate risk, defending companies from employee lawsuits, and handling labor union negotiations, among other things. The primary defense by Obsidian’s lawyers, filed back in March, posits the idea that the affected workers had “consented to and/or acquiesced in the alleged conduct by Defendant of which Plaintiff now complains.”

The law firm is also attempting to ensure that this lawsuit never reaches the courtroom by trying to invoke a forced arbitration clause that would involve both sides of the suit entering arbitration instead of a courtroom with a judge.

The company has also filed a response where it “denies, generally and specifically, each and every allegation”, and has requested that the lawsuit be “dismissed in its entirety with prejudice”, which would mean that it could not be filed again.

The plaintiff has alleged that Obsidian’s practices resulted in increased profits, and that the company had failed to “pay all wages (including minimum wages and overtime wages).” Money that was supposed to be due “upon separation of employment,” as well as parts of regular wages, were also not being paid in a “timely manner”. Other alleged violations of employee rights include the lack of law-mandated rest breaks and not reimbursing “necessary business-related costs” or providing “accurate itemized wage statements”.

The class action lawsuit is open to be joined by “all persons currently or formerly employed by any or all Defendants as nonexempt employees in the State of California at any time between October 9, 2021 and the date of class certification,” and “all members of the Class who separated their employment with any or all Defendants at any time between October 9, 2022 and the date of class certification.”

The goal of the lawsuit is to seek “monetary relief” for those affected by Obsidian’s actions, which have also been described as wage theft. This relief includes “unpaid wages, unreimbursed business expenses, benefits, interest, attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses, and penalties” that it should face due to its violations of the state’s Labor and Civil Procedure Codes.

No more details about the lawsuit have come out since then, and neither Xbox nor Obsidian Entertainment have made any statements about the matter.

“The Outer Worlds Spacer’s Choice Edition upgrade was intended to say ‘thanks’ to anyone who purchased The Outer Worlds base game by providing them a free upgrade to the newly improved version,” said the spokesperson. “However, due to various entitlement restrictions and backend issues, we weren’t able to provide this as smoothly as we wished, and our players are, rightfully, upset.”

Further in their statement, they have said that those who bought the base version of The Outer Worlds on PS4 or Xbox One between April 30th and May 27th can contact the support team.

“If you purchased the base game on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 between 4/30 and 5/27, or have any issues with the upgrade, please contact our support team, and we’ll work with you to make it right. Sorry again for the frustration around this.”

As for other platforms, the spokesperson has reiterated that the Spacer’s Choice Edition upgrade will remain free for PC players if they already own the base game, which has since been delisted from Steam. However, PS4 and Xbox One players who own a digital copy of the base game will also need to buy the DLCs or the expansion pass to be eligible for the upgrade moving forward.

Obsidian Entertainment had originally made the announcement about the upgrade at the beginning of the month. However, some poor phrasing led many to think that they would be eligible for the upgrade on PS4 and Xbox One as long as they had bought just the base game before May 27th, and that future purchases would need players to buy the DLCs for the upgrade.

“About three weeks ago, Obsidian clearly announced that if you have bought the original Outer Worlds before May 27, you will get the Spacer’s Edition for free on May 27,” wrote one Reddit user. “However, they just announced that this is now not the case and you need to buy both DLC as well.”

The studio took to social media to offer its apologies and pointed to “unforeseen platform limitations” that only affect PS4 and Xbox One.

“Apologies for the confusion,” wrote Obsidian. “Due to unforeseen platform limitations, Xbox One and PS4 digital owners will need to own both DLCs to be eligible for the upgrade.”

The Outer Worlds was released back in 2019 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Since then, the title has seen the release of two story expansions, an upgrade pack, dubbed The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition, and ports for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. In our review of the original release, we gave it a score of 6 out of 10.

“About three weeks ago, Obsidian clearly announced that if you have bought the original Outer Worlds before May 27, you will get the Spacer’s Edition for free on May 27,” wrote the Reddit user. “However, they just announced that this is now not the case and you need to buy both DLC as well.”

It is worth noting that Obsidian had mentioned the fact that the expansions would need to be bought manually by PS4 and Xbox One players to get the upgrade. However, the phrasing used by the company had indicated that this would only be the case after May 27th, with those who already owned the base game getting automatic free upgrades to the Spacer’s Choice Edition.

Obsidian Entertainment has acknowledged the issue and, with a social media post, has apologized to fans of The Outer Worlds. The company has also noted that this issue comes down to “unforeseen platform limitations” that only affect the PS4 and Xbox One.

“Apologies for the confusion,” wrote Obsidian. “Due to unforeseen platform limitations, Xbox One and PS4 digital owners will need to own both DLCs to be eligible for the upgrade.”

Obsidian Entertainment had announced the upgrade to The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition at the beginning of the month, noting that it has more in store for the 2019 sci-fi RPG. The announcement was accompanied by an update that helped the studio set up its development pipelines for further updates, as well as a few bug fixes.

Among the planned improvements coming to The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition are the larger fixes for aspects like performance, gameplay, and quests, and even the addition of new content, like grenades, which were curiously missing from The Outer Worlds on launch.

The upgrade has had its fair share of side effects, however, with the chief one being that the base edition of The Outer Worlds has been delisted from Steam, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. As of now, the only way to get your hands on the RPG if you didn’t already own it is to buy the Spacer’s Choice Edition.

The Outer Worlds was originally released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and was generally seen as a mixed bag. In our review, we gave it a score of 6 out of 10 due to a variety of issues, ranging from mediocre gunplay to the choices and consequences system not quite working well, to even the main character progression system being weird. We did, however, praise it for its art style, world design, and companion progression systems, among other things.

In the meantime, Obsidian Entertainment has also released The Outer Worlds 2. For more on that, take a look at our review.

The announcement was made alongside an update released for The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition, which was meant to test the studio’s development pipelines and bring in a few bug fixes. Another update is planned for the game, bringing in larger fixes for performance, gameplay, quests, and changes to the in-game lighting system. The studio is also introducing grenades as an available weapon type, which were curiously missing in the original The Outer Worlds. For a full list of changes introduced by the latest update, check out the patch notes below.

The base game edition of The Outer Worlds is going to be delisted from Steam, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on May 27th. After this date, the only version of the original available to purchase will be Spacer’s Choice Edition, which is currently also available on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG), PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

PS4 and Xbox One players will still have to manually grab all the DLC for The Outer Worlds for their copies of the game to be considered the Spacer’s Choice Edition, however. To help with this, the studio is also introducing pricing adjustments to the base game and DLC, which will be priced at $24.99 and $14.99, respectively.

In the meantime, The Outer Worlds 2 was released on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in October 2025. Check out our review for more details.

The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition update 2.5.7.0 patch notes:

General

• Companions’ status effects are no longer obstructed by their HP bars.
• Shooting from the Storm Cannon repeatedly at a close target no longer results in severe FPS drops.
• The heat effect coming out of the Unreliable will no longer stack up each time the player arrives in the ship’s proximity.
• When the Font Scaling setting also scales up the UI icons appropriately.
• Fixed “artillery cannon” typo.
• Fixed “Shipping” typo in Fallbrook.
• Players are now able to sleep in either of the two beds when exploring Ash’s old Outpost for ‘Little Memento’ on Monarch.
• Players are now able to manually save while under the ‘Concuss’ status effect throughout the title.
• Fixed an issue with the Super Scoper 3000 zoom where the zoom would not properly display.
• Felix’s book “Systems and Serfdoms” now appears in his room when acquiring it in Roseway town.
• The arrow is now greyed out when there are no more options.
• Status Bar displays all relevant Status Effect icons.
• The workbench now displays ownership of items when navigating through the workbench during gameplay.
• The gate will now load correctly while moving from Rizzo’s Distillation Station to the Bridge.
• The Item repair tutorial will no longer cause a freeze when switching to the inventory tab.
• SAM’s weapons can no longer be taken and equipped by players.
• Environment decorations no longer look the same as items the player can pick up.
• Players no longer become stuck when falling between two crates at the Spaceport.
• The sights are now centered after modding the Hunting Rifle Hyper with a Funtimes Barrel and a Gyro Sight.
• Frey’s Bar Cart no longer disappears from Unreliable after revisiting Relay GB-23.
• Mods have correct VFX when inspecting them in the inventory and then viewing them on the ground.
• The shadows on the cans no longer appear dark when viewing them in the office in Phineas Lab.
• A companion’s armor displays correctly if players wear a different type and modify it in the Workbench during gameplay.
• All aptitudes are correctly shown being applied when selecting them and viewing the summary screen.
• Mods display correctly for tinkered Elite Troop Armor.
• Players will no longer encounter a stuck spot when jumping/crouching into the 2nd floor of the General Store with insufficient Mag-Picks in Edgewater.
• Fixed a typo with the quest beacon text.
• Udom Bedford and Vicar Max will now play correct dialogue when attempting to turn in Phineas for the first time.
• The hacking and picking locks tutorial now triggers correctly when the user has a high lockpick skill during gameplay.
• Players can no longer get stuck when jumping in between a crate and pipe by the fence at the Geothermal Plant.
• Fixed an issue with the state of Anton on the Groundbreaker.
• A Workbench in the Covert Lab correctly unlocks a ‘Point of Interest’ icon when moving near it.

Design

• Players will now receive only one +10 from a Bonus Support perk when the companion is in the party.
• Leveling to multiple of 5 in Player Ship now updates the Companion UI tabs to indicate new Perk point available.
• Extend-O-Sight properly increases to both Effective and Max Range to 25%.
• The Paranoid flaw description has been updated to “Repeatedly getting caught by guards has made you jittery, especially when roaming around Restricted Areas or sneaking.”

Quests

• Sanjar and Zora are now only present inside the OSI Temple if the Player triggers a truce between them to happen.
• Once players agree to get the Radiator parts, regardless of chosen dialog, they can talk to other NPCs about them.
• Solution Vital now updates after killing Captain Irion on Scylla.
• Players can give the NVTUR mech the collected phonographs and complete The Electric Fling quest.
• The ‘Weathered Lockbox’ is now turned in when completing the ‘Little Memento’ quest in Amber Heights.
• The user is able to pick up the phonograph while doing the ‘Electric Fling’ quest.
• Sophia will no longer give the Player “Signal Point in Space” after the Player acquires the targeting module.
• The quest objective ‘Speak to Spencer Woolrich’ no longer remains active if the user speaks to Bellhop Owens and retrieves the security footage first.
• During BOLT with His Name, Huxley will no longer be invisible during the conversation after releasing her from the locked room.

Performance

• FPS Performance improvements:
  • When exploring Fallbrook.
  • When in conversation with Percival Platt.
• Performance has been improved when exploring Roseway, Eridanos, Monarch, Emerald Vale or Gorgon for the first time.
• Player can no longer fall through the ground while walking from islands to the Grand Colonial Hotel.
• Performance has been improved in tutorial area, where first Marauder enemies appear.
• Performance has been improved in Emerald Vale Junkyard POI.
• Framerate will no longer steadily drop as the player is continuously shooting onto any metal surface.

Xbox is getting in on the act by hosting a diverse line-up of games, from Pawprint Studio’s Aniimo, Perfect Garbage’s Grave Seasons, and Scary Kid Studios’ Don’t Fret to Plot Twist’s Erosion, onepixel.dog’s Way to the Woods, and Toot Games’ My Arms Are Longer Now. However, it also confirmed that Gungrave G.O.R.E: Blood Heat, the next entry in Iggymob’s long-running third-person shooter franchise, and One More Level’s first-person Souls-like Valor Mortis will appear.

This creates some hope that demos for both titles could become available to the general public in the future. Then again, it’s more likely that the above indie titles would release demos first, perhaps in a forthcoming Steam Next Fest, but never say never.

Oddly enough, Grounded 2 also has a demo in which up to four players can battle against the latest boss, King Dozer, from the “Beat the Heat” update. Why have this at Play Days, especially with how much it stands out among the other releases (not to mention that it’s already available)?

Perhaps it’s tied to a larger announcement for the survival crafting title. Stay tuned for potential announcements at the Summer Game Fest showcase on June 5th.

He said that TKs-Mantis was “partially right,” going on to note that “there are certain things that were gonna take place in Van Buren that do happen during the time of New Vegas.” Despite this, however, “not a ton of” things from Van Buren affected the story of Fallout: New Vegas aside from “a little bit” of a planned plot point involving conflicts between the New California Republic and a “merchant mafia.”

“That’s why all those nukes go off, cause I’m like, ‘well, I need to destabilize some regions,” Avellone explained. “Like, not wipe out factions, but I need to shake up both the Brotherhood, I need to shake up the NCR, I need to have them even more at each other’s throats in California.’ And so that was the reason for some of the precursor decisions for some of the DLC stuff and some of the stuff in core New Vegas … When we still thought we’d be able to do a New Vegas 2, or whatever the title would be, but that quickly evaporated.”

As for the evaporated idea of a New Vegas 2, Avellone has said that it “will not happen in the next six years at least, if ever.”

In the same interview, Avellone had also said that a remaster of Fallout: New Vegas in the vein of last year’s The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is unlikely due to Bethesda’s lack of engineering know-how to make it.

“I don’t think Bethesda has the engineering know-how to make a remaster of New Vegas at all,” he said. This lack of know-how was reflected in the fact that, when New Vegas was still in development at Obsidian Entertainment, Bethesda had offered the studio a $10,000 bonus if it could “deliver all the source code and the ability to make the build.” This bonus was skipped by studio lead Feargus Urquhart.“What that milestone really meant was if all those assets are given to Bethesda, that means they can recreate the game at any time,” he explained.

While a collaboration of this scope between Bethesda and Obsidian seemed unlikely in the years following the 2010 release of Fallout: New Vegas, both companies now fall under the Xbox Game Studios banner following a series of acquisitions by Microsoft. This means that there is potential for the two to work together to remaster the critically acclaimed cult classic open-world RPG.

March also saw a report indicating that Iron Galaxy Studios might be involved in the development of a Fallout: New Vegas remaster. However, the studio quickly dispelled the notion by revealing that any hints towards the remaster were merely a “behind-the-scenes” look at its preparations for team meetings, and that it wasn’t involved in any project related to the Fallout franchise.

“I don’t think Bethesda has the engineering know-how to make a remaster of New Vegas at all,” said Avellone when asked about a potential remaster. This comes down to Bethesda offering Obsidian Entertainment a $10,000 bonus if they could “deliver all the source code and the ability to make the build”. The bonus was eventually skipped by studio head Feargus Urquhart at the time.

“What that milestone really meant was if all those assets are given to Bethesda, that means they can recreate the game at any time,” he explained.

It is worth noting that, since then, both Bethesda and Obsidian Entertainment have been acquired by Microsoft. With both studios working under the same banner, the chances for collaboration to make Fallout: New Vegas for modern platforms certainly exist. If it does happen, Avellone has noted that it would be better if Bethesda were to “try out that process with Fallout 3” to better equip itself to deal with potential engine issues.

Last month saw rumors about Fallout: New Vegas getting remastered heating up, thanks to a social media post by Iron Galaxy Studios. The post featured the iconic “PLEASE STAND BY” screen from the Fallout franchise, with its color scheme matching that of New Vegas.

“Today’s our February company meeting,” wrote Iron Galaxy Studios at the time. “It’s time to catch up with what the company’s been up to and what’s coming up next for IG.” This post was followed up by Josh Sawyer—the director for the original Fallout: New Vegas—with his own social media post about how “the time for posting has ended,” and “the time of making games is upon me.”

Eventually, however, the studio had to once more take to social media to clear the air and confirm that it was not involved in a Fallout-based project.

“Nope! There is nothing to see here. Sorry to disturb the volcanoes, but that was just a BTS look at our company meeting. We use that slide every month and has nothing to do with anything Fallout being worked on. As you can imagine, we love Fallout, too. Now pardon us as we retreat back into our vault.”

Fallout: New Vegas was originally released back in 2010 on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Rather than picking things up where Fallout 3 left off, the title instead focused on the wasteland in and around the Nevada desert, which included the city of Las Vegas as one of its key locations. Despite suffering from many technical issues, Fallout: New Vegas was highly praised for its setting, characters, and writing.

Showcasing The Living Lands, and how you can shape your role in it as The Envoy to your liking, the trailer is quite the highlight reel, highlighting a variety of character builds with distinct races, skill-sets, and playstyles that’s going to be music to the ears of all your RPG fans out there. You decide your approach to The Living Lands and all they have to offer, and must live with the consequences of your choices.

Aside from that, the trailer also reaffirms what’s included with the new Anniversary Update, aka, 2.0. There are three new playable races, Custom Difficulty, Photo Mode, a new weapon type in the Quarterstaff, additional presets, and more. New Game Plus is also finally available, and on top of granting unique modifiers to enemies, it’s also somewhat different from the usual offerings, allowing you to create a new character.

It’s going to be a great time to get your journey started, or perhaps start it again if you want to relive the adventure as we wait for news about new games being added to the Avowed universe. For more details, check out our review.

Time went on, updates were released, and it’s now launching shortly on PS5 – seemingly without any fanfare. Microsoft even went ahead and dropped the price from the otherwise baffling $70 to $50. No better time than the present, especially with the Anniversary Update, right? Well, it depends on what you’re looking for.

Although Avowed isn’t a terrible experience by many measures, it is surprisingly blasé. All the ingredients for a compelling first-person action RPG in the Pillars of Eternity universe, even if it isn’t a full-fledged sequel by any stretch of the imagination, should make for an incredible experience. And yet, it ends up enjoyable in a ‘play-it-while-binging-podcasts’ way, as opposed to this grand epic that should have me invested in the fate of its world.

"That’s not even getting into some of the dialogue, which feels a little too light-hearted and easy-breezy. The claviger is someone whom Kai deeply respects and owes his life in the Living Lands to. You would think he’d be a little more concerned for him, but alas."

Plot-wise, you’re an Envoy for the Aedyran Empire, which is facing some manner of upheaval. The Emperor has some interest in the Living Lands – a relatively free region where Aedryan influence has been growing, much to the disdain of the locals. However, there’s a strange plague spreading throughout – a soul plague, which you later come to learn is something known as the Dreamscourge. Your job, in upholding your vow, is to investigate.

Pretty intriguing as far as set-ups go, and that conflict of duty vs free will is something that manifests through the dialogues occasionally. The introduction with its core mechanics and premise – where you end up shipwrecked and having to fight through a fortress where afflicted soldiers killed each other – isn’t too shabby either. The problem is that I didn’t particularly care for Garryck or the smuggler lady. Maybe the other companions wouldn’t end up as unremarkable, and I was right…but only barely so.

As soon as you land in the Living Lands proper, you immediately meet Kai. A former soldier of the Rauataian, he has a common goal in finding a claviger who ventured off with the Aedryan ambassador. And that’s pretty much how you end up friends (as one-sided as it can be), which really underscores just how milquetoast much of Avowed’s interactions can be. The occasional quips, threats of violence and shady responses can be used, but they have so little effect on the bonds with companions that it’s difficult to get emotionally invested. With other NPCs, I can at least sneakily steal some coins and attack them or flex my knowledge as a Vanguard Scout, for all the good that does (and for how situational it feels).

That’s not even getting into some of the dialogue, which feels a little too light-hearted and easy-breezy. The claviger is someone whom Kai deeply respects and owes his life in the Living Lands to. You would think he’d be a little more concerned for him, but alas. Meetings with other companions feel similarly underwhelming, and the fact that they have such limited skills – three active and one passive, each with three upgrades – and no other customization is enough to give Dragon Age: The Veilguard competition. At least the voice acting is good – amid the plot lacking any real urgency, it really does feel like chill adventuring with friends, not taking things too seriously.

"The Living Lands strike a pretty good balance between feeling large while also packing enough content and interesting encounters, even if some of them – like the arena tower challenge thing, which was one single fight and nothing more – can feel somewhat underwhelming."

It’s just that the “vibes, ya know?” approach feels so antithetical to the festering Dreamscourge and imperiled lands, especially when there are some genuinely intriguing mysteries and side stories to be had. What is that mysterious voice that only my character can hear? Why is she lending me her powers, and how does this connect to the lands as a whole? Yes, I’m sure she’ll be revealed as having some role in – if not being the main reason for – the Dreamscourge, but the conversations can be intriguing at times.

It also doesn’t help that the cities feel inherently lifeless – yes, even after a year of post-launch support. Sure, some NPCs are engaged in regular conversation, and they may have a few interesting things to say. You may even see the odd demonstration or two – someone on their proverbial soap box, speaking out to a crowd about something loosely related to current events. But that’s pretty much it. You’re literally, and metaphorically, a tourist – outside of scripted events, your presence means nothing most of the time, and the interactivity is incredibly barren. I’m not saying that the game has to dip into the same well of depth of other games in the genre, but surely some manner of reaction from NPCs is possible. Instead, they stand around, mostly oblivious to your presence. It’s almost a waste of the gorgeous architecture, impressive art direction and strong world-building.

Thankfully, the larger world is much more interesting as a whole, and that’s even without taking on side quests that veer off the beaten path. Suddenly, you may discover a cave that leads into a den of spiders with explosives that require burning away webs, or clamber up a lighthouse to uncover a treasure map and really take in your surroundings as a whole. On one occasion, I discovered a memory of a past civilization – how they left their home region, built another, welcomed all-comers – all from a choose-your-style format, which resulted in a genuinely heart-warming conclusion. And I received ten percent max health from it before receiving a unique axe and facing off against a gang of reasonably threatening skeletons.

The Living Lands strike a pretty good balance between feeling large while also packing enough content and interesting encounters, even if some of them – like the arena tower challenge thing, which was one single fight and nothing more – can feel somewhat underwhelming. Still, that feeling of walking past some explosive barrels, doubling back to blow them and finding that a whole new area has opened up feels great every time.

"The fact that I can wear any armor and gear, albeit with some penalties to stamina and Essence (the game’s version of MP), is also nice, as is being able to swap between two weapon loadouts, in case I wanted to start bonking fools up close."

The other thing that Avowed has going for it is the combat, even with its various issues. You have the usual weapon options – swords, axes, maces, bows, shields, hammers, some in one- and two-handed varieties. However, there are also wands, tomes, pistols, rifles, and the new quarterstaff (which provides a strong two-handed option that isn’t as stamina-hungry).

Even better is that you can mix and match with an extensive amount of freedom. I started to rock a pistol and tome, the former for pinpoint charged shots and the latter for casting chain lightning, fireballs, and even a spell for increased damage reduction. The fact that I can wear any armor and gear, albeit with some penalties to stamina and Essence (the game’s version of MP), is also nice, as is being able to swap between two weapon loadouts, in case I wanted to start bonking fools up close.

There are also Uniques with intriguing perks, like that one pistol which causes a high amount of Shock accumulation or the ring that builds up poison with critical hits – perfect for that dagger which deals burning damage over time (or even with power attacks by axes, causing bleeding damage). Or maybe I could dual-wield them, using the unique axe and dagger together for both benefits.

If you’re someone who wants to be on the frontline, then maybe that two-hander, which can recover health on successful parries, will be ideal. Pair that with increased parry efficiency that greatly stuns foes when maxed out for even more fun. The combat system may feel pretty repetitive at first, but give Avowed enough time and it’ll really start to sing with the number of available options. And even if I lambast the companion customization, weaving in their abilities with everything else – including throwables like grenades – adds some decent spice.

I’m not a fan of the enchantment system, though. Upon obtaining the correct materials, you can unlock two other enchantments, but you can only choose one, which will then take the place of the original (and there’s no going back). Some enchantments also don’t feel especially unique from others. I can choose from Shock accumulation from the pistol spreading to nearby enemies, which seems nice, but then there’s the dagger, which can cause fire damage to hit nearby enemies with a full combo. It would have also been nice if the weapon upgrading had some more pizzazz, outside of simply gathering materials and then increasing their tiers, until you hit the next rarity for simple stat increases. Aside from this, crafting is threadbare, which is just baffling given how much loot focus there is.

Then there’s the skill progression, which is equal parts fun and cookie-cutter. Level up to earn skill and ability points – spend those to unlock new skills or upgrade current ones, and increase stats for benefits like increased hit chance, more health, etc. The amount of available skills seems cool at first, but further upgrades require increasing your character’s level. Even if they’re not all that surprising in terms of what the fantasy genre has to offer, being able to unleash poisonous knives or shield bash an enemy into the sun feels good.

"I wouldn’t necessarily rank Avowed’s combat among the 10 action RPGs of all time, but it can be satisfying. The various quality-of-life systems here, like being able to send your items directly back to camp stash when you’re overburdened, or returning to your last location after leaving camp, are also appreciated."

Then there are the straight-up boring options. Negating the stamina and Essence penalties of Medium and Heavy Armor? Sure, that sounds fine. Straight up damage increase for a weapon type? Dull and uninspired, even if there is a case to be made about the benefits of sticking to a singular weapon type or two, versus simply choosing skills willy-nilly. Still, at least the number of options is far higher than at launch, especially for those wanting to spec into the Ranger and Fighter trees. I also like that every five levels confers an additional skill point for further investing in varied builds or fully maxing out an ability, which can make the difference between Jolting Touch chaining to more enemies or dealing much more damage against a singular foe.

Throughout my time, I didn’t feel the need to min-max into a specific gameplay style, though upgrading weapons and armor becomes a necessity to deal with higher-tier enemies. Combat is very responsive, and I’ll admit to simply wasting time to run and electrocute groups with impunity, commanding Kai leap into a group of enemies, and finding some satisfaction in killer blows after an enemy has been staggered.

Enemies don’t really coordinate so much as possess their own builds, which in itself means tackling healers before dealing with everything else, or having the tank draw aggro on the frontline while you go after the ranged enemies. Perhaps the only real danger I ever faced was when backed into a corner against a bear with no stamina, but even then, there’s Second Wind for self-reviving. Simply circling and stabbing larger enemies in the back made many of the bosses feel a little too easy, but on the bright side, at least you can modify the difficulty beyond the standard options.

Tip the scales in favor of your enemies, and you’ll be rewarded with more XP (even though you can increase your own health and damage to compensate with no penalties, which I find hilarious). Coupled with the fact that more random encounters respawn in the world, and setting out to knock some heads together (if incinerating or electrocution isn’t your thing) is even more fun.

I wouldn’t necessarily rank Avowed’s combat among the 10 action RPGs of all time, but it can be satisfying. The various quality-of-life systems here, like being able to send your items directly back to camp stash when you’re overburdened, or returning to your last location after leaving camp, are also appreciated. And for those craving more customization options, the Anniversary Update does feature additional race options (each with unique starting stats), more ways to make your Envoy stand out, and several more presets to choose from.

"Whatever the case, if you can take it as an action RPG with a relatively fun world to explore, Avowed is pretty solid, especially at this price (never mind cheaper, which I have a sad feeling it’s going to be in a month or two)."

As far as the quality of the port goes, on PS5, you have a choice of three modes – Quality, Balanced and Performance. Quality, as you’d expect, offers much better image quality at the cost of a lower frame rate, while Performance prioritizes 60 FPS. The latter results in some noticeable pop-in, image quality issues (even on close-up models when switching back and forth between characters in conversations), and some frame drops during busier moments. If you want something in between, Balanced is there, and uncapping the frame rate with a VRR-compatible monitor can provide a solid in-between setting, even if the lighting feels a bit off at times.

Taken altogether, it feels like the game had a vision, faced numerous development hurdles (which is true), and then had to water down its ambitions just to get it out. On the other hand, with the news that it was meant to support co-op, it seems like so much of this was intentional to provide a looser, more streamlined experience for friends. Co-op would be removed, but many of those relatively dumbed-down systems remained.

Whatever the case, if you can take it as an action RPG with a relatively fun world to explore, Avowed is pretty solid, especially at this price (never mind cheaper, which I have a sad feeling it’s going to be in a month or two). There are several elements that I still think need improvement, but it can be enjoyable to just mess around, finding new loot, and testing out different builds while getting the lay of the land. Those seeking a deep, involving story with incredible characterization and world reactivity are advised to look elsewhere, but whatever’s here isn’t downright awful – just shockingly whelming most times and surprisingly fun at others.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

The post is a the latest iteration of the Xbox Excellence Awards, which was created last year to celebrate how players engaged with various releases on Xbox. The Store Rating category lists 2025 games with the best ratings on the Microsoft Store, with an added requirement of the title having at least 500 ratings. Player Engagements is about the average number of hours spent on a game by each player within the first six weeks of a game’s release. Daily Active Users celebrates titles, expansions or updates with the highest single-day active users throughout the year. And finally Units Sold is fairly self-explanatory.

Going down the lists, you’ll find many of the biggest releases of the year, from ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6, as well as award-winning RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Indie titles have also been well-represented, with games like Crime Scene Cleaner and Satisfactory making it into the lists. There also doesn’t seem to have been a singular genre to dominate the lists, since everything from sports games like EA Sports Madden NFL 26, to fantasy adventure life sims like Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and even fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics are well represented.

Curiously, none of the games was present in all four of the categories. At most, we got to see titles like Borderlands 4 being able to make it on to three of them: Player Engagement, Daily Active Users and Units Sold. Even ARC Raiders, which has seen quite a bit of success, is only on the Units Sold and Daily Active Users lists.

Microsoft has also emphasized that the lists represent a diverse collection of games developed by studios of varying sizes. All in all, it represents 48 unique developers based out of 13 countries, with 24 publishers having had a hand in their release. 19 of the games were self-published. “Taken as a whole, it’s an encapsulation of development on Xbox – we want gaming to reach you wherever you are, and for the teams making those games to find you from wherever they are,” wrote the company.

Full list of games:

Store Rating:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Crime Scene Cleaner
• Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2
• Digimon Story: Time Stranger
• Dreamcore
• Dynasty Warriors: Origins
• Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
• Final Fantasy XVI
• Lies of P: Overture
• Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
• Little Nightmares III
• Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
• Minami Lane
• Mullet MadJack
• Poppy Playtime Chapter 4
• Satisfactory
• Silent Hill 2
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
• The First Berserker: Khazan

Player Engagement:

• Borderlands 4
• Digimon Story: Time Stranger
• Dynasty Warriors: Origins
• EA Sports College Football 26
• EA Sports FC 26
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
• Farm Together 2
• Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles
• Helldivers 2
• Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
• MLB The Show 25
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• NBA 2K26
• NHL 26
• Rust
• Satisfactory
• The First Berserker: Khazan

Daily Active Users:

• Arc Raiders
• Avowed
• Battlefield 6
• Borderlands 4
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• DOOM: The Dark Ages
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Fortnite
• Forza Horizon 5
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Grounded 2
• Helldivers 2
• Marvel Rivals
• Minecraft
• NBA 2K26
• Rematch
• Roblox
• Rocket League
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

Units Sold:

• Arc Raiders
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Battlefield 6
• Borderlands 4
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• EA Sports Madden NFL 26
• EA Sports College Football 26
• EA Sports FC 26
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Helldivers 2
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• MLB The Show 25
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• NBA 2K26
• PGA Tour 2K25
• Ready or Not
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• WWE 2K25