With January in the rearview mirror, the release ofAvowedis on the horizon. Created by Obsidian Entertainment — the developers behindThe Outer Worlds,South Park: The Stick of Truth, andFallout: New Vegas—Avowedis an action RPG set within thePillars of Eternityuniverse. While engaging withAvowed’s fantasy narrative, players will get to take on the role of an envoy of Aedyr — a customizable character with multiple playstyles to choose from — sent to investigate a plague ravaging the mysterious Living Lands.
Avowed’s nearing releaseis great news for fans of both Obsidian Entertainment and Xbox. Not only isAvowedexclusive to Xbox Series X/S and PC, but it will be available on Xbox Game Pass at launch. Many players are already optimistic about the game thanks to its positive previews, but if recent rumors are to be believed, then the release ofAvowedis only the start of an exciting year for Xbox and RPG fans.
Two RPGs Could Make 2025 a Year to Remember for Xbox Players
Obsidian Entertainment isn’t the only RPG developer under the Microsoft umbrella. Back in 2020, gamers were shocked to hear thatMicrosoft would be acquiring Bethesda, the iconic studio behindThe Elder ScrollsandFallout. Since the deal was finalized in 2021, Bethesda released its sci-fi role-playing epicStarfieldand has continued to expand uponFallout 76’s online experience. WhileFallout 76has grown in popularity thanks to Prime’sFalloutstreaming series,Starfieldfailed to satiate players' appetites for a fully fledged Bethesda RPG experience.
The next mainlineElder ScrollsorFalloutgames likely won’t be released any time soon. In the meantime, one new rumor suggests thatAvowedmight not be Microsoft’s only fantasy RPG coming out this year.
Oblivion’s Rumored Remake
A plethora of recent rumors have suggested that Bethesda will be breaking up the wait forThe Elder Scrolls 6by releasinganOblivionremakelater this year. Originally released all the way back in 2006,Oblivionwas the firstElder Scrollsentry released on the Xbox 360. Though not as popular or approachable as its successorSkyrim, the impact thatOblivionhas had not only onThe Elder Scrollsseries but on Western RPGs as a whole is monumental.
It seems that after releasingedition after edition ofSkyrim, Bethesda may finally be givingOblivionits time in the sun. TheOblivionremake will supposedly be released this year, with several rumors suggesting that it could launch as early as this spring. Though it seems surprising that Bethesda would wait until so close to the game’s release date to announce it, Microsoft is likely having the developer hold off so that theOblivionremake doesn’t distract from the upcoming release of the conceptually similarAvowed.
The Impact of Avowed and Oblivion’s Neighboring Launches
While these two games do run the risk of cannibalizing each other’s success, they could also come together to make 2025 a great year for Xbox and the RPG fans in its playerbase. Dropping a brand-new RPG likeAvowedand then following that up with the re-release of one of the most iconic RPGs of all time has the potential to be the perfect one-two punch. Players will have dozens if not hundreds of hours of content available to them, and they will have the opportunity to explore both an entirely new open world and one that has since become a beloved classic.
