Avowed game director Carrie Patel has announced that she’s left developer Obsidian to become a game director at Oxenfree developer Night Dive, which is owned by Netflix.
Avowed launched in February for Xbox and PC, and it was a critical success. Microsoft, which owns Obsidian, never announced any stats about the game’s commercial success, though.
After launch, Patel said she would like to see Obsidian spend more time in the Avowed world, with many taking that to mean a sequel. “Now that we’ve built this wonderful world, and also built this team strength and muscle memory around the content and gameplay in this world, I’d love to see us do more with it,” she said.
Avowed was originally pitched as a multiplayer-centric game that married Destiny with Skyrim. That was before Patel came on board as the game’s director and helped lead the project through a major development pivot.
Patel had worked at Obsidian for more than 11 years, contributing to games like Pillars of Eternity 1+2 and The Outer Worlds before becoming game director of Avowed. Obsidian is now working on The Outer Worlds 2, which is set for release later this year.
Patel leaving Obsidian doesn’t necessarily say anything about prospects for more Avowed, or anything else for that matter. People leave their jobs for any number of reasons.
While there is no word yet on a potential Avowed sequel, Obsidian is supporting the game with major updates in the summer and fall that will add things like new NPC abilities and behaviors, as well as new game plus and photo modes.
Patel joins Netflix at a time of change and upheaval at the company with regards to gaming. The company already shuttered its AAA game studio and Netflix’s gaming output is focusing more on mobile and social games of late. However, Netflix’s top gaming boss says fans should understand that it takes “time, stubbornness, and investment to get great results.”
It’s not immediately clear what project Patel is the game director of at Netflix. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
