Avowed's Engine: Obsidian's Tech Evolution with Unreal Engine 5
Last Updated: November 6, 2025
In the lead-up to its February 18, 2025 release, Obsidian Entertainment's fantasy RPG Avowed generated massive anticipation. As players now delve into the vibrant, mysterious Living Lands of Eora, one of the most significant development stories behind the game is the technology that powers it. While many of Obsidian's previous titles were built on the Unity engine, for its ambitious first-person RPG, the studio made the pivotal decision to harness the power of Unreal Engine 5.
Obsidian's Engine Evolution
Developer Obsidian Entertainment, celebrated for masterpieces like Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity, has a history of adapting its technology to suit the project. Many of its acclaimed titles, including the Pillars of Eternity series which shares its setting with Avowed, were built using the Unity engine. This led to early speculation that Avowed would follow suit.
However, the studio ultimately switched to Unreal Engine 5, a move that fundamentally shaped the game's development and final presentation. This decision reflects a broader industry trend where studios select engines based on the specific needs of a project—from graphical fidelity and performance to the robustness of the development tools. Switching engines is a significant undertaking, but it allowed the team to leverage a toolset specifically designed for creating the high-fidelity, immersive worlds that modern players expect.
Why the Engine Choice Matters for Players
The choice of a game engine has a profound impact that extends beyond the development studio and directly affects the player experience. For Avowed, Unreal Engine 5 provides the framework for its stunning visuals, from the advanced lighting systems of Lumen that create realistic and dynamic environments to the complex geometry handled by Nanite, allowing for intricate detail in the world of Eora.
More importantly, the underlying engine is the foundation for a game's stability and security. Every major game engine, whether it's Unreal, Unity, or a proprietary in-house solution, is a complex piece of software. Engine developers are constantly working to identify and patch potential vulnerabilities. A critical part of a game studio's responsibility is to integrate these security updates to protect their community.
While a hypothetical flaw could force a developer to take drastic measures, such as temporarily delisting a game to deploy a mandatory patch, the day-to-day reality is a continuous process of maintenance. By building on a widely supported and actively developed engine like UE5, Obsidian ensures it has a strong foundation for delivering a secure and stable experience, allowing players to focus on their adventure without worrying about underlying technical risks.
The Road Ahead for Avowed and Obsidian
With Avowed now launched on Xbox Series X/S and PC, its technical underpinnings in Unreal Engine 5 are on full display. The decision to move away from Unity for this project was a strategic one, aimed at realizing a specific creative vision for their next-generation fantasy RPG.
For players who already own the game, this means a continued pipeline of support and updates built on a modern, powerful engine. It is always crucial for players to keep their games updated, as patches from Obsidian will not only include content and bug fixes but also any essential security enhancements inherited from the core engine. This incident is a powerful reminder that the platforms and tools used to build our favorite virtual worlds are just as important as the worlds themselves, serving as the unseen bedrock of performance, beauty, and player safety.