Avowed has been out for just a few days, but it has been performing decently well in the highly competitive RPG genre. The credit for this success, of course, goes to none other than Obsidian Entertainment, the studio behind the title, and, weirdly, also to Microsoft.
Obsidian is the same studio that is behind other popular titles such as Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds, and more. However, the studio wasn’t really that stable before it was bought out by the giant back in 2018, changing the course of the future for the game-developing house forever.
Avowed success: How Microsoft plays a part
Avowed was one of the most-anticipated releases of 2025, and now that it is finally out, it is being welcomed warmly by gamers, despite the player count on Steam suggesting otherwise.
During the acquisition, many fans feared the studio would go ahead and lose all its creative liberty, eventually running down into the ground. However, as we can see for ourselves today, that did not turn out to be the case. Talking about how the acquisition helped them, the studio’s head, Feargus Urquhart, stated the following in an interview via IGN.
We were about 170 people at the studio. [Since joining Xbox] not only have we grown the studio to 285 people, we now also have a lot of co-development partners.
Not only does it seem that Microsoft took away none of the creative liberty from Obsidian Entertainment, as observed in Avowed, but also provided the studio with a lot more resources. It is these resources and networks that ultimately make a difference and help game development houses beat their competition in the industry.
How Avowed is a positive byproduct of the Microsoft acquisition frenzy
In recent few years, Microsoft has been in a frenzy to acquire as many studios as it can, including the Call of Duty publisher Activision-Blizzard Group for nearly $70 billion.
While this has caused much controversy as well, games like the recently released Avowed are a great example of what a studio with a dedicated team of developers can pull off if given enough resources. Following is how fans reacted to Obsidian’s head’s comment on the Microsoft acquisition.
Microsoft acquisition was good for Obsidian
— Kloot (@ZakkenKloot) February 21, 2025
Good to see a positive growth story. Great studio! Exciting to see what they do next (after OW2).
— K (@Matt_Swan90) February 21, 2025
Grounded was amazing! Obsidian ccould provide a big team for Adam Brennecke to make yet another masterpiece for us.
— AlgalordWarrior || Caelus.wiki.br (@LeandroAlgalord) February 21, 2025
Perfect example of an organic growth and how both studio and company benefit
As an xbox fan I’m genuinely that @Obsidian is part of the Xbox family
— Jassem 🇦🇷🌟 (@jassem73) February 21, 2025
For now, the game is flopping, the numbers are horrible on steam. And don’t even say game pass…. Stalker 2 had over 100,000 players right away….
— TJ Hooker (@WhySoSeriousXXC) February 21, 2025
Fck the haters on here. Absolute bedwetters. If you don’t like something then keep it to yourself. Bloody virgin keyboard warriors
— Gary Hall (@Garybo1977) February 21, 2025
Furthermore, with Avowed launching day one on Microsoft’s subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, Obsidian no longer has to rely solely on upfront sales to determine success. Instead, the game will reach millions of players instantly, ensuring a larger audience than the traditional methods.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
