In a revealing interview with Bloomberg, Carrie Patel, the second game director of Avowed, provided insights into the tumultuous development journey that resulted in the abandonment of two years of work. Initially, Obsidian Entertainment set out to create Avowed as a blend of Destiny and Skyrim, envisioning a game that would offer cooperative exploration within a vast open world alongside dynamic multiplayer components.

The excitement around the first teaser trailer released in 2020 was palpable among fans, yet it concealed the truth: the game was far from being finished. Mere months after the teaser, a critical decision was made to completely overhaul the project, rendering the teaser a mere artifact of an unrealized prototype that bore no similarity to the eventual game.

After the project's reboot, Carrie Patel stepped in as game director and steered Avowed in a new direction. Moving away from the initial inspirations of Skyrim and Destiny, she eliminated the open-world and multiplayer aspects. Instead, Obsidian returned to its roots with a zone-based structure and concentrated on developing a rich, single-player narrative deeply embedded in the Pillars of Eternity universe.

The decision to restart development mid-project posed significant challenges, comparable to attempting to make a movie without a script. Teams worked relentlessly amidst uncertainty as the leadership struggled to forge a unified vision. Despite these obstacles, the development continued for an additional four years until Avowed was finally released.