Prolific RPG developer Obsidian Entertainment had an extremely busy year under Microsoft and Xbox in 2025, with the studio releasing three new games: Avowed, Grounded 2, and The Outer Worlds 2. Obsidian has been working diligently to support each title with post-launch additions and improvements, and now a huge Anniversary Update has come to Avowed that's made it available on PS5 and has introduced much-desired features.
The new story-driven, The Elder Scrolls-like Pillars of Eternity RPG is the latest Xbox title to come to PS5, and joins games like Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, Forza Horizon 5, and the original Grounded, among others. First teased last month during the New Game Plus Showcase, the release of Avowed on PlayStation has brought the fantasy title to millions of gamers that couldn't check it out previously.
For all players on all platforms, the update also brings Dwarves, Orlans, and Aumauans into the character creator options, allowing you to play as one of these races instead of as a human or an elf if you'd like to. You don't need to start a new game to do so, either; there's now a Magic Mirror at your Party Camp that lets you freely change your race whenever you'd like to.
On top of that, New Game Plus (NG+) has finally come to Avowed as well, and lets you replay your journey through the Living Lands with all your unlocked (non-godlike) abilities, gear, and enchantments. Enemy stats in NG+ are beefed up to ensure gameplay remains engaging, with the cap on player attributes risen from 15 to 30 so you can continue growing stronger. Notably, tweaks to the difficulty can be made with custom modifiers.
Obsidian has brought an official Photo Mode to Avowed, too, which will no doubt please the virtual photographers out there. Other small additions include a new quarterstaff weapon type, some lighting improvements, adjustments to how enemies populate the world, and more. For more details, check out the studio's full blog post.
As its name suggests, this new Anniversary Update has released almost exactly one year after Avowed's original February 18, 2025 release date on February 17, and celebrates the RPG's first year of availability. Notably, this patch is also the final major update that Obsidian planned for in its public post-launch roadmap, and includes some additions that were delayed last fall.
It's unclear if the studio will continue to bring new content and features to Avowed moving forward, as it hasn't explicitly confirmed or deny plans to do so or to develop DLC at the time of writing. At the very least, players can expect Obsidian to provide technical support and work on bugs; beyond that, all we can do is speculate.
In a recent Bloomberg interview with the developer, the RPG's performance was discussed, with both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 notably failing to meet Microsoft's ambitious financial expectations. Grounded 2 was Obsidian's only game from 2025 that sold as well as the publisher was hoping it would.
With that said, Avowed has boasted impressive peak player engagement metrics, highlighting the fact that many still played the game even if it didn't necessarily sell well in the long term.
One contributing factor to that is undoubtedly Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft's subscription-based gaming service. Like all first-party Xbox games, Avowed is available to play through the program, allowing subscribers to begin their adventure in Eora without buying a full copy.
What's your opinion of Avowed, and Obsidian Entertainment's other RPGs? Are you a big fan, or were you not impressed with what you played? Will you return to Avowed to check out everything new in the Anniversary Update? Let me know you're feeling in the comments.
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