(Opinion) Why Avowed is doing so badly.

[FiftyKal]

Okay I'll start by saying I didn't even know this game was coming out and it was on my wish list. I found out it was out today after seeing Asmongold's "Microsoft is actually f*cked.." video.

The reason I didn't see it was that after "Dragon Age Vielguard" I blocked the LGBTQ+ Tag on steam for games going forward.
And while I think Avowed is not really a Woke disaster like other games, it's still definitely has LGBTQ+ & some woke elements.
So like me many steam players that don't want to bother with politics etc have probably just blocked the Tags to not even bother, and while they may have enjoyed this game as it looks like those Ideologies are present but not forced in this Game they will never even know about it.

Basically what I'm saying is that Woke has gone too far, and now the swing is coming back, while people may have been fine with a few woke things in games before if the game was good now they won't even look at a game if there is a hint of Woke/LGBTQ+ in a Game.

So it will be interesting to what happens to the Industry going forward.

[Sciencemile]

I will believe they are doing badly when action is taken that reflects that reality.

With the way they combined a game pass release with higher list pricing, I’m not entirely sure if the current stats being used to argue disappointing performance are in fact below expectations from Microsoft or Obsidian.

[DMaster2]

That's not the reason. Leaving aside BG3 that came before this bubble bursted (if it was a 2025 release it would've seen much less players imho) KCD2 shows that lgbtq+ stuff alone is not the real problem.

In my opinion it's a mix of the game being mid, the game having woke elements like pronouns and finally the dumb tweets from a person that represented (like it or not) the game.

[Ele]

I didn't know you can block a specific tag, that's awesome.

[Frostbeast]

I finished Avowed. I think its boring. And i dont think its woke. Just normal boring.

[NerazarPC]

The "Western AAA dev" sphere is dead on arrival now. I will no longer buy games which are made by people who quite literally hate me. In the past, they hid it. Now, it's completely out in the open. I am not their target audience and they do not regard me as a human being.

Why should I feed those who judge me based on my outwards characteristics?

Creative development is easy: You do it for the love of the craft. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Adding 2025 sensibilities into a Fantasy game is anything but love for the craft. So it's a hard pass here.

[WOKEGOD]

BG3 and KCD2 success has one thing in common
And that is
Well
Are y'all ready to hear?
Surely you prepared?
Don't be shocked
And the answer is:
attention to details
Clearly both veilguard and this failed to take that in mind and thus we got a lazy made game that remind you of how 2000 video game suppose to be with exception of graphics, animations, sh** storywriter & lifeless worldbuilding that'll take one run to finish and move on with nothing memorable & no surprise elements. Everything is as predictable as heck.

[Noop]

Nobody wants to play the game cuz it simply is bad. Combat is way too basic, enemies are way too spongy, exploration is destroyed by loot being useless, your choices have no impact on anything, in fact you cant even refuse to do smth as the game will force you to accept choices. The list goes on and none of it has anything to do with the game being woke.

Stop coping and blaming everything on your stupid scapegoat.

[ᵀᴴᴱ Uʟₜiᴹₐᵀᴱ ᴰᴱᴳᴱᴺᴱᴿᴬᵀᴱ]

To be honest, this is not woke. Yes a lot current political subject are adapted to Eora but it’s kinda Female = Male where Veilguard was : Male are evil, corruptile and selfish, female are strong, smart and perfect.

Avowed should not be tagged as RPG, honestly it’s a more than correct action adventure game.

[Zylon]

They still think they can ignore and push back against the avalanche that is rumbling down the hill.

Why do you think there have been mass lay offs in the game industry in 2024 and it is only getting worse in 2025 onwards.

They either make what customers want or they can close shop.

Either way the potential customers that reject the activism in games wont go away.

[-|Nur|-]

The market is just too saturated at the moment. Too many games (including several triple-A titles that are completely free) chasing too few players.
Personally speaking, yesterday was the first time I even heard of this game.

Originally posted by RORSCHACH:

I didn't know you can block a specific tag, that's awesome.

99% of Steam users don't know either or just don't care.

[Elvi]

Game looks okay, but after the deranged director rants, I really don't see why would anyone without deep self-hatred buy it. Shame.
Maybe it would be a good idea to control your top employees when they speak about/for your products, huh.

[muffins]

VG insights are claiming that Avowed has only sold 54,000 copies.

The game has a whole load of problems. Speaking from my own perspective looking at the store page what do I see? The first picture is some weird pink fury from some 2010 game in an awkward pose. Red flag. Then I notice the tags LGBT and DEI. Another red flag. Then I start looking at the other store pictures and watch the video - it's Rainbow Skyrim with janky 2010 animations and costumes. Red flag. Then I check the forums - "GO WOKE, TOP THE CHARTS!" Red flag. Then I watch some reviews from trusted youtubers - boss gurls belittling males, janky animations, fake npcs, rainbow palette, badly weighted costumes, appalling Starfield-level dialog animations, fetch quests, 5/10 mid-game. Red flag.

How much do they want for this slop?

[Verde]

It's a mediocre game that doesn't excel at anything, but fails at a lot of things. No one should be surprised that it flopped.

[andynnos]

IT's doing badly because it's a really mediocre game that has almost no attraction to it. Add the woke elements and it just drags further down. It's literally Greedfall but worse.

[Roach]

Same situation here. I blocked the lgbbq+ tag also, so had no idea this was even a thing.

Fortunately I “miss” most releases of that nature now, but I do like to pull up a seat, grab some popcorn and watch the fallout every once in awhile.