News of Xbox layoffs, studio reorganizations and project cancellations have been flying around recently. The first thing many players do when they wake up every day is to confirm whether their favorite games have been canceled again. However, amidst all the bad news, there is finally news that gives RPG players some peace of mind. According to the latest revelations and industry news, the sequel to “Avowed” is still under development and has not been affected by the recent Xbox layoffs and restructuring. For players who are worried about the future development of Obsidian Entertainment, this is undoubtedly a shot in the arm.
Xbox turned off the lights everywhere, but “Avowed” managed to survive!
It can be said that things have been quite unstable within Xbox recently. From layoffs, project cancellations to the uncertain fate of studios, a steady stream of news has caused many players to worry about the future of their studios. In particular, Obsidian Entertainment, which specializes in producing RPGs, is considered to be facing resource adjustments because it has multiple development projects at the same time. However, the latest news points out that not only has the “Avowed” series not been canceled, the sequel is even continuing to be developed.
Obsidian is a survivor again
In fact, Obsidian’s performance under Xbox has been quite stable in recent years. In addition to “Avowed”, the studio also launched the “Grounded” series and continues to maintain its multiple IPs. Although the reviews of “Avowed” when it was released did not reach the phenomenal popularity of “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim”, the overall player response was still positive and it has successfully accumulated a group of loyal supporters. Therefore, in the context of Xbox starting to reduce expenditures on a large scale, being able to maintain the qualification for sequel development itself means that Microsoft is still optimistic about the long-term potential of this IP.
Players breathed a sigh of relief, but still dare not be too optimistic
After the news was exposed, many players left messages saying they were finally relieved. However, some players joked: “I can’t believe that any game is safe until the Xbox is officially released.” After all, there have been too many cases in the gaming industry in the past year where employees were recruited one day and layoffs were announced the next day. Therefore, even though “Avowed 2” is currently reported to be safe, many players still hold a wait-and-see attitude.
Being alive now is good news in itself
A few years ago, “a sequel is under development” might have been just ordinary news, but in the Xbox environment of 2026, this sentence seems particularly precious. Because the recent game industry has made players understand one thing: whether a game is well received or not is one thing, but whether it can successfully survive until a sequel is released is another matter. At least for now, it seems that “Avowed” has temporarily escaped this layoff storm.