A significant gaming news story in the industry, Avowed director Carrie Patel has left Obsidian Entertainment after a fantastic career lasting almost 12 years. The news, confirmed via information from her LinkedIn page, is a significant change for both Patel and the highly expected title.
Patel’s departure from Obsidian finds her joining Night School Studio, which is a story-focused developer, with the lion’s share of attention drawn to Oxenfree. The departure occurs as development on Avowed progresses, and fans can only speculate on what could have been the consequences to the last direction of the game and release. There has been no word yet from Obsidian Entertainment on leadership transition to Avowed, though one can see the community eagerly waiting to hear how this transition would be handled.
During her extended stint with Obsidian, Patel has contributed to a number of critically received games, earning a reputation as a woman of robust narrative ability and character focus. Her work on Avowed was greeted with great expectation, initial reactions to the title praising its robust writing, tight combat, and heavily detailed areas, all of which were praised for revealing a depth that is more typical in bigger, AAA RPGs, but this time largely for an ostensibly relatively small-scale focus.
Night School Studio’s emphasis on deep storytelling also aligns with Patel’s established strengths. Her experience at Obsidian indicates a clear preference for intricate stories and player decision-making, both of which form the cornerstone of Night School’s already existing ethos. This fresh start for Patel at Night School Studio may also indicate a return to basics of fundamental story-driven practice for the studio and new beginnings for creative narrative exploration.
With Avowed making its path to its ultimate release, the death of its director, naturally, raises questions regarding the project’s creative direction. Fairness dictates, however, that Obsidian Entertainment has a storied history of bringing top-shelf role-playing games to market, and one waits to see how they will handle this change. The gaming public will wait to see what additional details will be shared regarding Avowed’s management and ongoing development trajectory.
