In a candid interview with Bloomberg, Carrie Patel, the second game director of Avowed, provided insight into the tumultuous development journey that saw two years of work discarded. Initially, Obsidian Entertainment set out to create Avowed as a blend of Destiny and Skyrim, envisioning a vast open world ripe for cooperative exploration and enriched with multiplayer dynamics.

The excitement around the first teaser trailer released in 2020 was palpable among fans. However, beneath the surface, the game was far from ready. Mere months after the teaser's launch, Obsidian made the bold decision to abandon the project entirely and start over from scratch. As a result, the teaser now serves as a nostalgic reminder of an early prototype that shares little to no resemblance with the game that eventually came to fruition.

With the project's reboot, Carrie Patel stepped into the role of game director and steered Avowed in a new direction. She moved away from the original inspirations of Skyrim and Destiny, opting to discard the open-world concept and multiplayer elements. Instead, Obsidian returned to its roots, adopting a zone-based structure and concentrating on weaving a rich single-player narrative deeply intertwined with the lore of Pillars of Eternity.

Rebooting mid-development posed significant challenges, similar to embarking on a film project without a script. The development teams toiled under the cloud of uncertainty, striving to align with a vision that was still being formulated by the leadership. Despite these obstacles, the journey extended over another four years before Avowed ultimately reached its eagerly awaited release.