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Avowed isn’t one continuous open world because Obsidian chose a sequence of large, distinct regions. Players can explore freely within an unlocked zone, but the developers said that moving between zones gives the story a more predictable rhythm: the team knows which main-story experience a player has just had, even if it cannot know every side quest they completed.
How Avowed’s world is structured
In a January 24, 2025 interview with Xbox Wire, Obsidian described Avowed as a series of large regions that players explore as the story progresses. The regions open in sequence rather than forming one uninterrupted map.
That structure still leaves room to roam. Region director Berto Ritger said players can do what they want “for the most part” within a zone. The boundary is that players cannot be anywhere in one connected world at any moment: access to the next region follows the story’s progression.
Why the developers chose zones
A more legible story sequence
Narrative designer Kate Dollarhyde summarized the challenge this way: “Pacing is really tough in open-world games.” In a world where a player might go almost anywhere, designers cannot be sure which story material they have encountered before reaching the next major beat.
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- Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way
- Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities.
Sequential zones give the team a clearer anchor. Dollarhyde explained: “You never know where the player is and what they’re doing at any given time. So having these zones that happen in sequence means we always know what content you’ve just come from on the critical path. Maybe not what side quests you’ve done, but we always know you’ve just had this [core] experience.” In other words, the sequence establishes a shared main-story context without requiring every player to complete the same optional content.
Choices that build on what came before
Ritger connected that context to choice and consequence: “I think it’s a good pacing mechanism (for those choices). We know roughly what you’ve done before you’ve gone to the next thing.” Knowing the player’s recent critical-path experience gives the writers and designers a more dependable basis for choices in later regions, while leaving side-quest decisions less predictable.
Rank #2
- Requires base game, Game Pass Ultimate, or PC Game Pass Membership (Sold Separately)
- Premium Upgrade includes: Premium Skin Packs: 2 sets of bonus skins for your companions, and access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way.
Game director Carrie Patel described the ambition behind those choices as “everything being believably built to,” rather than every action changing the entire universe. The zoned structure supports that more focused approach: consequences can feel connected to the story and region the player has actually reached.
What zones change compared with a contiguous open world
| Design question | Avowed’s sequential zones | A contiguous open world |
|---|---|---|
| Geographic continuity | Distinct regions open as the story progresses. | A much broader connected space lets players move among areas without the same sequence of region unlocks. |
| Freedom at a given moment | Considerable freedom within the currently available zone, but not access to one continuous map at any moment. | Players may be able to occupy a wider connected space at once. |
| Story predictability | Designers have a clearer sense of the main-story experience preceding the next region. | Players may arrive at story material after different combinations of exploration and quests, making their path less predictable. |
This is the developers’ design rationale, not proof that zones always create better pacing or that every player prefers them. The interview does not give a zone count, map-size measurements, playtime figures, or a tested comparison of how players experience pacing.
Rank #3
- Premium Edition includes: Avowed base game, Premium Skin Packs: 2 sets of bonus skins for each of your companions, and access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way.
- Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities.
What this means for players
Expect a world that is open locally rather than geographically boundless: you can spend time exploring an available region and pursuing optional content, but the overall journey moves through areas in a deliberate order. That tradeoff gives the story a more controlled sequence while limiting the freedom to travel anywhere at any time.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- L'édition Premium SteelBook comprend: le jeu de base Avowed, jusqu'à 5 jours d'accès anticipé, le SteelBook Avowed, la carte des Terres Vivantes, deux packs de skins Premium et l'accès à l'Artbook numérique Avowed et à la bande-son originale
- Vous êtes l'envoyé d'Aedyr, une terre lointaine, missionné pour enquêter sur les rumeurs selon lesquelles une épidémie se propagerait dans les Terres Vivantes, une île pleine de mystères et de secrets, de dangers et d'aventures, de choix et de conséconsés. quences, et d'une nature sauvage
- Explorez une île qui abrite de nombreux environnements et paysages différents, chacun avec son propre écosystème unique
- Mélangez et associez des épées, des sorts, des armes et des boucliers pour vous frayer un chemin
- The compagnons d'un large éventail d'espèces se battront à vos côtés, avec leurs propres capacités uniques
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