A new LinkedIn update reveals that Obsidian developer Zoe Franznick, who worked as a narrative designer on Pentiment, has joined the Avowed team. This reportedly means that the open-world RPG, set in the Pillars of Eternity setting Eora, has 10+ narrative designers working on it.In game development, narrative designers are an absolutely vital role and one that is sometimes overlooked. What a narrative designer does is make sure the narrative weaves in and out of every other element of the game, often working across departments to make sure that, for example, a certain gameplay beat doesn't undermine the story. It pairs the gameplay verbs with the narrative beats, meaning that understanding the narrative allows them to better immerse players in terms of gameplay. For example, a narrative designer is involved in how getting Dragon Shouts in Skyrim involves itself in the world around them, how the character develops throughout the story as they gain strength, and how a character's abilities impact gameplay (grounding a dragon in Skyrim, for example).With Franznick joining Avowed as a narrative designer (and Pentiment perhaps being a simple, yet effective way of showing narrative design in action), she joins a wide team. Other narrative designers on Avowed reportedly have their roots in BioWare, Ubisoft leadership, Hogwarts Legacy, Riot Games, and more, pulling together perhaps a powerhouse of a team. And with ten narrative designers, it definitely speaks to the scope and goals of Avowed. For comparison, Pentiment included three narrative designers (including Franznick) alongside its narrative director Josh Sawyer.
As another point of comparison, "Narrative Designer" is a position that didn't really emerge until 2006. The 2011 release of Skyrim, as a continued point of reference, doesn't include a narrative designer on its list of credits. However, of course, it has a plethora of people who did work tied to this position. Its credits list about eight folks responsible for just quest design and writing, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Ultimately, of course, it remains to be seen how this element of Avowed is eventually realized. Microsoft and Obsidian Entertainment has, to date, only revealed one trailer for the game. It's not impossible it picks up and fans learn more about the game later this year, but its release doesn't seem to be on the horizon quite yet. In the meantime, Microsoft has quite a few heavy hitters slated for 2023, including the releases of Starfield and Redfall.
Avowed is in development for PC and Xbox Series X.