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Avowed is a single-player, first-person fantasy action RPG set in Eora. A focused main-story playthrough takes roughly 20–25 hours on Easy or Story difficulty, according to a 2025 GameSpot estimate. Exploring all four regions, completing companion and side quests, and following points of interest makes the campaign substantially longer. You can choose a preset difficulty and, in current versions with the anniversary update, fine-tune enemy health, damage, speed, and other challenge factors with custom modifiers. There is no multiplayer or co-op, and companions have personal storylines but no traditional romance routes. The game launched on February 18, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, with cloud and Game Pass access; it is now also available on PlayStation 5.
What kind of game is Avowed?
Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, set in the world of Eora. It is built around an authored, choice-driven campaign rather than an endlessly repeatable online world. You travel through four regions, fight with weapons, spells, and abilities, meet companions, and decide how deeply to pursue optional content.
The most useful way to set expectations is to separate the “critical path” from the rest of the game. The critical path is the sequence of missions needed to advance the main story. Side quests, companion stories, exploration, hidden locations, and points of interest sit outside that route and can add many hours. Your difficulty setting and willingness to investigate each region also affect how quickly you move through the campaign.
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| How long is the story? | About 20–25 hours for a main-story-focused run on Easy or Story difficulty; a thorough playthrough takes considerably longer. |
| Can the difficulty be changed? | Yes. Preset difficulty options are available, and current versions can add custom modifiers for more granular tuning. |
| Is there multiplayer? | No. Avowed is designed as a one-player campaign and has no co-op or multiplayer mode. |
| Can you romance companions? | No traditional romance routes or romance questlines. Companions still have substantial personal stories and relationship dialogue. |
| Where can you play? | Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, cloud, Game Pass, and PlayStation 5. |
How long does the Avowed campaign take?
Main-story estimate: roughly 20–25 hours
GameSpot estimated approximately 20–25 hours for a main-story-focused playthrough on Easy or Story difficulty in 2025. Treat that as a planning range, not a guaranteed timer. It describes a player who follows the major missions and does not systematically clear every optional activity.
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- Requires base game, Game Pass Ultimate, or PC Game Pass Membership (Sold Separately)
- Premium Upgrade includes: Premium Skin Packs: 2 sets of bonus skins for your companions, and access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way.
Your actual result can be shorter or longer. Combat speed, time spent reading dialogue, backtracking, difficulty, and exploration all change the total. A player who moves directly between critical-path objectives may finish near the lower end; someone who searches each area, experiments with builds, or pauses to investigate environmental details may exceed it.
What makes a playthrough longer?
- Four-region exploration: Each region contains optional places and activities that are easy to skip when following only the main objective.
- Side quests: Optional missions add narrative scenes, combat encounters, rewards, and travel time.
- Companion quests: Companions have their own stories and dialogue. Pursuing those arcs requires additional conversations and missions beyond the critical path.
- Points of interest: Searching off-route locations, collecting discoveries, and solving local problems can substantially extend a session.
- Higher challenge: Tougher settings and custom enemy modifiers can make fights require more planning, retries, or equipment changes.
Why there is no reliable “completionist” number
No fixed completionist duration is established for Avowed. “Completionist” can mean finishing every side quest, seeing every companion scene, visiting every marked location, or attempting to uncover every point of interest, and those standards produce different totals. Rather than presenting an invented single figure, plan for considerably more than the 20–25-hour critical-path estimate if you intend to explore thoroughly.
Game director Carrie Patel described Avowed’s overall scope as roughly similar to The Outer Worlds. That comparison helps communicate the intended scale, but it is not an hour count or a promise that both games take exactly the same time.
“Players can expect a roughly similar experience, just like The Outer Worlds, depending on what kind of difficulty they play on, and how thoroughly they explore and invest inside content, versus just sticking to the main crit path missions.”
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Avowed | Standard Edition | Xbox Series X|S and Windows Digital Code
- Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way
- Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities.
Choosing a campaign pace
| Play style | What you do | Time expectation |
|---|---|---|
| Critical-path run | Prioritize main missions, limit detours, and accept fewer optional conversations. | Approximately 20–25 hours on Easy or Story, based on GameSpot’s 2025 estimate. |
| Story plus companions | Follow companion stories and complete a selection of side quests while advancing the main plot. | Longer than the estimate; no authoritative fixed total is stated. |
| Thorough exploration | Investigate all four regions, pursue side content, and search points of interest. | Substantially longer than 20–25 hours; the exact total varies by definition and play style. |
What difficulty options does Avowed have?
Preset difficulty and assists
Avowed lets you select the level of challenge and activate assists. The PlayStation listing describes the game as allowing players to customize challenge, so you are not locked into a single intended combat experience. A lower setting is appropriate if you mainly want to follow the story; a higher setting rewards deliberate positioning, resource management, and build choices.
Exact labels and available toggles can depend on the game version and platform interface. Use the difficulty screen presented by your installed build rather than assuming that a guide written before launch uses identical names.
Custom modifiers in the anniversary update
Obsidian’s anniversary update added custom game difficulty modifiers. These options provide finer control than a single preset, including factors such as enemy health, damage, and speed. For example, you can reduce enemy damage without lowering every other aspect of the challenge, or increase health to make fights more demanding while leaving movement behavior unchanged.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsModifier availability depends on having a current version that includes the anniversary update. If you do not see the custom settings, update the game and check the difficulty or gameplay menus again. Platform rollout and menu wording can differ, so the absence of a toggle on an older installation does not mean the feature was never added.
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How to choose a setting
- Choose Easy or Story if you want the least friction while prioritizing dialogue, exploration, and the main narrative.
- Choose a standard combat setting if you want normal resistance without manually tuning individual factors.
- Use custom modifiers if a preset is close but not quite right—for instance, if enemy damage feels excessive while enemy health feels appropriate.
- Change your approach when needed: difficulty is part of the campaign pacing. If repeated encounters stop being enjoyable, a lower setting or a targeted modifier can preserve the story without requiring a restart.
Does Avowed have multiplayer or co-op?
No. Avowed is a single-player campaign. The PlayStation store lists it as “1 player,” and developer interviews describe a focused narrative experience whose scope and companion design were not built around multiplayer. There is no co-op party mode, competitive multiplayer, MMO-style shared world, or online campaign to join.
Companions accompany you as AI-controlled members of the story experience, not as additional players. Their dialogue, personal quests, and reactions are authored for a solo journey. If you are looking for a fantasy RPG to play cooperatively with friends, Avowed does not provide that mode.
Can you romance companions in Avowed?
No traditional romance routes
Avowed does not include traditional romanceable companions or romance questlines. You cannot pursue a conventional dating path, unlock a formal romantic relationship, or reach a romance ending with a companion.
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Companion relationships still matter
“No romance” does not mean that companions are shallow or interchangeable. They have personal stories, conversations, reactions, and meaningful relationships with the player character. Talking with them, taking them on relevant missions, and choosing how to respond can reveal additional characterization even when the relationship remains platonic.
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- Premium Edition includes: Avowed base game, Premium Skin Packs: 2 sets of bonus skins for each of your companions, and access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way.
- Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities.
In a 2024 Game Informer interview, Carrie Patel and Gabe Paramo explained that romance was considered but omitted so the team could invest resources in deeper companion characterization and keep the project within scope. That design choice makes companion arcs a narrative feature rather than a romance system.
What to expect from companion content
- Companions can provide dialogue and perspective during the campaign.
- Their personal stories are separate from a formal romance progression.
- Optional companion missions contribute to a longer, more complete playthrough.
- Your interactions can still shape the tone of relationships without producing a romantic route.
Is Avowed on PS5, Xbox, PC, and Game Pass?
Current platforms and access routes
| Platform or service | Availability | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Xbox Series X|S | Available | Listed in the February 18, 2025 launch announcement. |
| Windows PC | Available | Launch announcement listed Windows PC storefronts. |
| Cloud | Available through the listed cloud access route | Availability can depend on the applicable service, region, and account. |
| Game Pass | Available through Game Pass access | Catalog access is subject to the current Game Pass offering and your plan. |
| PlayStation 5 | Available | Added with the anniversary update; the game is now part of the PS5 lineup. |
Avowed launched on February 18, 2025. The Xbox launch announcement named Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC storefronts, cloud, and Game Pass access. An anniversary update subsequently brought the game to PlayStation 5. Because service catalogs and regional availability can change, verify the current store listing and Game Pass catalog for your account before purchasing or downloading.
Edition pricing reported by Xbox Wire
Xbox Wire reported a $49.99 standard edition and a $59.99 premium edition in 2026. Those figures are the cited edition prices at that time, not a guarantee of every region’s currency conversion, tax, sale price, or future store price. Digital storefronts may display different totals based on location and promotions.
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For physical-product searches, “Avowed PS5” is the direct platform phrase supported by the current lineup. On Xbox and PC, buying the game outright and accessing it through Game Pass are separate routes; choose based on whether you want permanent purchase access or access tied to an active subscription and catalog availability.
How the major systems fit together
If you want the shortest story-focused experience
- Select Easy or Story difficulty.
- Follow the main objective and avoid clearing every optional location.
- Complete only the side or companion quests that interest you.
- Expect the campaign to land around the 20–25-hour estimate rather than treating that range as a guaranteed finish time.
If you want the fullest narrative experience
- Explore each of the four regions instead of traveling directly between main objectives.
- Speak with companions regularly and follow their personal quests.
- Investigate points of interest and side quests as they appear.
- Use a standard or custom difficulty that keeps combat engaging without creating avoidable stalls.
- Allow substantially more time than a critical-path run; no single authoritative completionist total is established.
If you are choosing Avowed for social play
Buy or install it for its solo narrative, not for online features. The game’s companions are story characters controlled by the game, and there is no multiplayer or co-op mode.
If romance is your deciding feature
Choose Avowed for companion characterization and personal quests, not for romance routes. The game deliberately omits traditional companion romances while retaining substantial platonic relationship content.
Quick Recap
Common points of confusion
- “20–25 hours” is not a completionist promise. It is a 2025 estimate for a focused main-story run on Easy or Story.
- Custom modifiers are not the same as the original presets. They were added in the anniversary update and may require a current game version.
- Companion depth is not equivalent to romance. Personal arcs and meaningful dialogue exist without dating quests.
- Cloud and Game Pass access are service-dependent. Your plan, region, and the current catalog determine whether you can play through those routes.
- PS5 availability is newer than the original launch lineup. It arrived with the anniversary update, whereas Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC were listed at launch.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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