Avowed will feature 30, 40 and 60 FPS modes for Xbox Series X

Avowed, the highly-anticipated action-adventure roleplaying game from Obsidian Entertainment (The Outer Worlds, Pillars of Eternity) and Xbox Studios disappointed many fans looking forward to the game when it was announced it would be “targeting a baseline of 30 FPS.”

“It’s a first-person, single-player game, you don’t necessarily need that 60 frames,” Obsidian art director Matt Hansen said on an episode of the Iron Lords podcast. “And that allows us to get a lot juicier with VFX and lighting and all this other stuff.”

The backlash from fans at Obsidian’s disclosure of the lower-than-expected FPS-count (FPS, or frames per second, refers to the number of individual frames or images displayed per second in a video game, with a higher FPS typically correlating to a much smoother and more responsive gaming experience) was very vocal, with some comments stating, “30 FPS on modern hardware is embarrassing. ‘At least 60 FPS’ should always be the goal [at this point],” and “Whelp. if there’s no 60 FPS option I ain’t playing at launch.”

Luckily, the outcry for the game’s lack of performance mode and deficient FPS count may be misplaced: according to a recent tip-off from credited leaks and rumors insider eXtas1stv, Avowed will feature 30, 40, 60 FPS modes for Xbox Series X, contrary to what has been said in the past.

Avowed will be set in the same universe as previous Obsidian fantasy game Pillars of Eternity. The game will be a first-person fantasy RPG where players take on the role of a customizable character navigating the world of Eora, a land filled with magic, complex politics, and a storied history.

Unlike some of Obsidian’s previous RPGs, Avowed won’t be open world game with completely non-linear gameplay. Instead, Obsidian describes the game as “open zone,” which means each given stage will be open for exploration but the entire game’s map won’t be accessible from each stage until authorized by the narrative.

“We know roughly what you’ve done before you’ve gone to the next thing. It’s still a very open structure within those zones, where you can do whatever you want for the most part, but it’s not one contiguous area where you could be anywhere at any moment,” Avowed region director Berto Ritger told Xbox.com.

Avowed is slated to release on February 18th for Xbox Series S|X and PC platforms. Obsidian is also developing The Outer Worlds 2, which is set to release sometime in 2025.

What do you think of the fact that Avowed will feature 30, 40 and 60 FPS modes for Xbox Series X? Will the addition of 40 and 60 FPS modes sway your decision in playing or purchasing Avowed? Let us know in the comments.