Obsidian almost added multiplayer to Avowed
Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed almost became a multiplayer game, as the upcoming RPG almost had a co-op element, as revealed in the studio’s 20th-anniversary documentary. Studio head Feargus Urquhart admits that, initially, he pushed for Avowed to have a multiplayer element, believing it would make the game more appealing to publishers. However, the team eventually realized that focusing on multiplayer would mean compromising on the aspects Obsidian excels at in single-player RPGs.
“I remember pitching this multiplayer game,” Urquhart says in the documentary. “I thought, ‘This is going to be amazing, we’re going to get a deal!’ I pushed for it.”
Urquhart also says that, because publishers are looking for multiplayer games, this led to Obsidian making a pivot to ensure Avowed remained true to the studio’s vision of an Obsidian game. “We realised that, in doing so, we were going to compromise on the parts of the game that we really thought we were the best at, in terms of the single-player RPG experience. So, we made the decision early on to say, ‘No, we’re going to focus on this.’”
I like this answer because it shows that even esteemed developers who have built their careers on single-player games are venturing into multiplayer games because publishers want them. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but when developers who clearly have a fondness for and a track record of making fantastic, single-player games are forced to add multiplayer elements to games that should have remained single-player experiences, it’s concerning.
I think the industry’s focus on extracting maximum profit from players is leading to multiplayer elements being forcibly added to games that should have remained single-player experiences. The failure of many live-service multiplayer games suggests that this trend may soon come to an end, but it’s going to leave a lot of studios in a bad place, having wasted millions of dollars on failed trends.
Thankfully, Obsidian changed its mind about making Avowed a multiplayer game, otherwise we would have another potential flop on our hands. I’m sure publishers are also paying attention, as wasting millions of dollars on failed trends takes away from the potential of well-crafted single-player games that could make them billions of dollars instead.
If you want to see more about Obsidian’s Avowed, check out some of the most interesting Avowed traits, or take a look at some of the best single-player games you can play right now.
