Avowed is selling 5 days of early access, and in a surprise twist fueled by Xbox buying everyone, Obsidian's RPG is coming to Activision Blizzard's Battle.net

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Microsoft) Obsidian’s long-awaited fantasy RPGAvowedis now technically launching on February 13, 2025after a delay pushed it to next year,assuming you’re willing to pay $89.99 for the fancy edition with early access. It’s also coming to Battle.net,ActivisionBlizzard’s PC launcher, because Xbox is crossing the beams after a bunch of massive acquisitions. Xbox opened pre-orders and confirmed the staggered launch in a newblog post. The Avowed Digital Standard Edition is $69.99 (or playable on Game Pass day one) and comes with the regular ol' game. The $89.99 Digital Premium Edition bundles in up to five days of early access, two premium skin packs, and a digital artbook and soundtrack. Finally, the $94.99 Premium Edition Steelbook has all of the Digital Premium Edition content plus a physical map and steelbook case, but only a digital code for the game. You’ll have the option to upgrade to the digital premium edition for $24.99 a la carte just to get the digital goodies if you want, but obviously the early access is only good if you cash in early. Pre-order incentives and early launches are common enough; theseparate blog postfrom Blizzard, which confirms Avowed’s impending Battle.net launch, is arguably the real head-turner in this packet of news. Avowed will be the first non-Activision Blizzard game to come to Battle.net sinceMicrosoft acquired the company in the biggest acquisition in games industry history. It’s also one of the very few games toevercome to the launcher from outside a direct Activision or Blizzard studio. Destiny 2’s brief stay on Battle.net comes to mind, but that was back whenBungiewas still partnered with Activision, so we’re just splitting hairs either way. You will, of course, still be able to play Avowed on Xbox or through Steam or the PC Xbox app, but a Battle.net option for this Obsidian-developed game is the kind of company smoothie that really puts a new spotlight onMicrosoft’s corporate spending spree. Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more Here’s the true irony of all this. Avowed was purportedly delayed to “give players' backlogs some breathing room,” but its paid early access launch now puts it out one day beforeAssassin’s Creed Shadowsdropson February 14, and its standard release date still falls on the week beforeMonster Hunter Wildshits on February 28. Games industry, we gotta talk about February 2025. This is just getting silly now. 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