I’ve spent much of 2026 revisiting the RPGs that defined the last console cycle, and the Avowed debate keeps resurfacing like a tide that refuses to obey the moon. The headline is familiar: is Obsidian’s first-person fantasy RPG its answer to The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim? According to Avowed director Carrie Patel, no — and I think the distinction is more useful now than it was before launch. In a Game Informer preview conversation, Patel said the closest comparison is The Outer Worlds, Obsidian’s own compact, choice-driven sci-fi RPG. That comparison, she argued, gives players a ‘much clearer idea of the scope’ as well as the design and layout. In 2026, more than a year after Avowed arrived, that framing holds up better than the Skyrim shorthand ever did.
Avowed was revealed during Xbox’s 2020 showcase and immediately became a Rorschach test for Skyrim nostalgia. Because it sits in the Pillars of Eternity universe and because Obsidian has a storied RPG pedigree, many players assumed it would be a massive, province-sized epic. The years of near-silence did not help. When the game re-emerged, it looked different: more focused, more colorful, and visibly smaller in scale. Obsidian eventually made clear that Avowed was a smaller-scale adventure in the mold of The Outer Worlds. Even then, the Skyrim comparisons clung to it like burrs to a wool cloak.
Patel’s explanation is refreshingly concrete. She points to Avowed’s world structure: a series of open zones that connect and unlock as the story progresses, rather than one enormous contiguous map. She also says the quest structure and narrative structure are closer to The Outer Worlds. That is not a marketing dodge; it is a design blueprint. Avowed is built like a constellation of dense, hand-authored rooms rather than a single sprawling ocean. The difference matters because it shapes what the game asks you to do. You are not meant to walk in any direction for 40 minutes and stumble into a new town; you are meant to move through curated spaces where companions, factions, and local stories collide.
| Question | Skyrim | The Outer Worlds | Avowed as described by Patel |
|---|---|---|---|
| World shape | One massive continuous map | Connected open zones | Series of open zones that unlock |
| Scope | Huge sandbox | Focused RPG | Smaller-scale, focused adventure |
| Quest and narrative | Sandbox-driven | Choice-heavy, compact | Closer to The Outer Worlds |
| Design target | Endless freedom | Dense reactivity | Curated zones and narrative momentum |
Here is where I push back on the disappointment some players still express. Comparing Avowed to Skyrim is like judging a chamber orchestra by the acoustics of a stadium: you can do it, but the exercise tells you more about the stadium than the music. Avowed was never trying to be a forever game with a thousand radiant distractions. It was trying to be an Obsidian RPG with sharp writing, companion banter, and meaningful local choices. The Outer Worlds comparison gives players a better expectation: a game with hubs, quests that branch, and a scope you can actually finish. That is not a downgrade. It is a different promise.
Post-launch, the 2026 conversation has shifted. Players who expected a second Skyrim sometimes bounced off Avowed’s zone-based structure. Players who loved The Outer Worlds recognized the rhythm: arrive in a new area, meet a faction, untangle a local crisis, and move on with your companions. The third-person mode Patel discussed also fits that more authored approach; it lets you see your character as part of a staged world rather than as a disembodied camera. Avowed’s zones are not seams to be tolerated; they are chapters. Once you accept that, the game’s density makes sense. 🎮
I also think the Skyrim comparison does Avowed a disservice in the other direction. It makes the game sound like a failed audition for a role it never wanted. Obsidian has spent years building RPGs with strong narrative architecture, and The Outer Worlds proved that a smaller scope can still support memorable companions, acidic humor, and player agency. Avowed inherits that DNA more visibly than it inherits Bethesda’s mountain-sized sandbox. The open zones are not a compromise; they are a controlled way to pace discovery. 🧭
None of this erases Skyrim’s shadow, and I do not think Patel is pretending it does. Skyrim is a landmark because it offers a particular kind of horizon. Avowed offers a different kind of horizon: a series of doorways, each with a story behind it. The Outer Worlds was great, and Avowed is closer to that lineage than to Bethesda’s endless map. So when Patel pushes back on the Skyrim comparison, I hear a director asking players to judge the game she made — not the game nostalgia projected onto it. In 2026, that request feels less like a deflection and more like a map. ⚔️