Obsidian is working on something that isn't Avowed or Grounded

News
By published

It's being directed by studio design boss Josh Sawyer.

(Image credit: Obsidian Entertainment)

It looks like Obsidian is pretty busy now that it's under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella. It's just launched the Early Access version of Grounded, its spider-infested survival game, and just last month it unveiled—albeit only in cinematic form—Avowed, its first-person RPG. The Outer Worlds is due some big DLC, too, coming next month. And now it turns out that it's got at least one more project on the go. 

Studio design director Josh Sawyer, who led the development of Fallout: New Vegas and both Pillars of Eternity games, recently posted an explanation of his role on his Tumblr. In the post, he writes about meetings with design directors, providing feedback and lots of management tasks, but nothing about working on his own game. 

In response to the post, someone expressed sadness that Sawyer wasn't directing his own project (cheers, ResetEra), but he clarified that he actually is—it's just not Avowed. 

What a tease. Aside from being a first-person fantasy RPG set in the world of Pillars of Eternity, we don't know much about Avowed, but I would have considered Sawyer a safe bet for game director, given both his experience with the series and the fact that he's already led the design of one celebrated first-person RPG. 

Another RPG is likely, though. While Obsidian has expanded into co-op survival games with Grounded, Sawyer's spent the last 20 years designing RPGs—but who knows? Maybe he fancies a change. 

What it probably won't be is Pillars of Eternity 3. Pillars 2 didn't sell well, and Sawyer said Obsidian would probably have to "re-examine the entire format of the game." That's likely why we're getting Avowed instead of another isometric romp that directly continues from Pillars 2.

Fraser Brown
Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.