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Which Obsidian Entertainment continues to work on Avowed for its 2025 release date, Microsoft Game director Phil Spencer reveals why the RPG recently suffered a delay – and it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with quality issues.

Originally scheduled to launch sometime this year, Avowed was delayed a few months ago to February 18, 2025, with Xbox says it wanted “to give player lag some breathing room” before it is released. Since then, not much has been said about the delay – until now, that is. Speaking in a recent interview with Game fileSpencer describes the company’s reasoning behind the delay in more detail.

“We can afford it when we have the Diablo expansion, then Black Ops, then Indy (and the big circle),” he explains. “We didn’t move it because Obsidian needed the time. They will use the time.” According to the CEO, the choice to delay Awowed in gear came after he spoke with Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty to “plan it out” and after both executives consulted “with the Game Pass team.”

Spencer says the decision then came to “make sure we get this a little bit better.” It makes sense – after all, other monumental releases like Stalker 2 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle drops on Game Pass day one this year. I’m sure it won’t hurt to give the team at Obsidian more time to cook. With possible story endings said to be somewhere in two digitsRPG sounds massive.

Check out our roundup of others new games coming this year and beyond for even more to look forward to.