Xbox has announced a major restructuring that will cut 3,200 jobs by next summer, hitting several of its games studios hard. Obsidian Entertainment, maker of the Pillars of Eternity role-playing series and 2025's Avowed, reportedly lost 25% of its staff. According to Bloomberg, the surviving team has been redirected to develop a new Fallout game, sidelining other projects — including a planned sequel to Avowed. The article argues this squanders Obsidian's rare talent for the kind of choice-driven, world-rich role-playing that made Baldur's Gate 3 a breakout hit.

Avowed is set in Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity universe, a high-fantasy world called Eora notable for having artificial rather than true gods. The original Pillars of Eternity (2015) and its 2018 sequel earned critical praise and a cult following, and Avowed served as an accessible entry point for newcomers. The author contends that, with Baldur's Gate 3 proving strong demand for computer role-playing games and few rivals able to fill that gap, Microsoft's timing is poor. Details remain unclear, and the team reportedly hopes to re-pitch Avowed 2 eventually, but it is not currently a priority.