Success is something we’ve talked about quite a bit on this website. That’s mainly because, in the video game space, success can be several different things, depending on who you are and what you’re going for. In the case of Obsidian Entertainment, they have made it clear that they want to make great RPGs in various styles that gamers can enjoy. Instead of just making numerous things off of others’ IPs, as they did once upon a time with Bethesda, they would rather make new games within their own universe, like Avowed. The title came out a week ago, and many are still trying to decipher how good it is and how successful it is.
For example, one news writer noted on Twitter that the game “broke its own record” by having 19,000 people playing concurrently at one time on Steam. You can see the numbers below:
So, the question becomes, is that a good number? Context is key here, and it’s one that comes with some caveats. For example, if you look at just “raw numbers,” that’s not exactly the best one ever. A certain team shooter that is dominating the world right now has many more people playing it than that. However, when you compare it to the last big RPG that Obsidian Entertainment made, you’ll see that the numbers are honestly in line with what they did before. Others in the comments noted that the RPG is on Xbox Game Pass, which means that the number is likely higher due to playing it on that service instead of Steam. Some are even speculating that, based on the numbers shown, the game is likely around 2 million in sales or player numbers. With Xbox Game Pass involved, things can get skewed.
There’s another caveat here that needs to be noted, and that’s the actual game quality. If you go onto the title’s Steam page, you’ll see that Avowed only has a “Mostly Positive” review score from over 5000 players. If you go to the above tweets comments, you’ll notice that there are people there who are happy to talk about “how bad the game is,” with one pointing to the combat system and saying it was “stuck in the past.”
Such comments don’t affect Obsidian on its own, but a multitude of them could. This was a game that Obsidian Entertainment was hyping up quite a bit, and even delayed to ensure it was good and that players liked it. As such, its success is important to the team, but it’s unclear if they have gotten true success.
