Avowedis set to launch on Game Pass day one, but its optional premium upgrade raises a potentially troubling issue for future releases.Avowedis the latest game from Obsidian Entertainment, an action RPG in the vein ofTheElder Scrollsset in the same world as thePillars of Eternitygames. Like pretty much all games published by Xbox Game Studios, it’s set to be released on both Xbox Series X/S and PC as part of the Game Pass service the day it comes out.
The game will be available in both a Standard and Premium Edition that comes withextra bonus content for a higher price tag - $70 USD for the Standard Edition, and $90 for the Premium Edition. For those playingAvowedon Game Pass, there’s a Premium Edition upgrade available for $25 that offers the same bonus content as the standalone Premium Edition. Whether that bonus content justifies the price tag attached to it, however, is a matter of some debate.
Avowed Doesn’t Offer Enough In Its Premium Edition
Early Access And Not Much Else
According to the official product listing forAvowedonXbox, theAvowedPremium Edition upgradeincludes two sets of skins for the in-game companions, a digital artbook and soundtrack, and five days of early access before the game’s full launch on February 18. All of that is content that will likely be worth buying, but there’s one thing that’s noticeably absent from the lineup -there’s no meaningful gameplay content that’s included in the Premium Edition ofAvowed.
Avowed Premium Upgrade Cost & Early Access Explained
Avowed has taken a slightly different approach when it comes to pre-ordering, but how exactly does this work and what does it offer buyers?
The skins on offer are purely cosmetic, providing no gameplay alterations or modifiers; the artbook and soundtrack, while a nice bonus, are content that exists apart from the game entirely.The real selling point of the Premium Edition seems to be the five days of early access, allowing fans to dig intoAvowedas early as February 13. While the promise of early access has become fairly standard in modern games,it’s not something that can or should justify a higher price tag on its own, especially when other high-profile releases have gone above and beyond.
2024 Xbox Game Pass Releases Were Fairer
Xbox Game Pass has had a quite a few major releases hit the service over the last year, and many of them offered their premium or deluxe edition upgrade options. While bonuses like skins or artbooks are commonplace in these upgrades,most of them also included a future DLC expansion to the core game–often in addition to early access as well. When stacked up against the other deluxe editions on offer,Avowedfeels lacking by comparison.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
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While many of 2024’s biggest Game Pass launches included early access, it was far from standard, and even where it was included it was bolstered by the inclusion of things like campaign DLC or in-game currency - things that have a tangible effect on the player’s gameplay experience. The cosmetics and soundtracks on offer feel like a value-add to the main attraction of the premium upgrade, which is access to the DLC expanions that are being included in the package.
Xbox Just Justified The Game Pass Price Increase
Especially when contrasting the price points ofAvowedagainst the other games on offer,it creates the impression that the bulk of the value is being placed on early access. TheexcellentIndiana Jones and the Great CircleandStarfieldboth offered early access, skins, soundtracks and/or artbooks, and future story DLC for $35.Without any campaign DLC, the $25 forAvowed’s premium upgrade feels like a tough sellin comparison, and it seems to be placing less value on content and more on cajoling players into simply wanting the game as early as possible.
Dividing Avowed’s Community Shouldn’t Be A Marketing Tool
Players Shouldn’t Have To Pay Extra To Avoid Missing Out
When buying a game at launch,one of the main points of appeal is being a part of the community when it’s at its hottest and freshest–people are making discoveries, meeting new characters, figuring out game mechanics all at the same time.Early access as a premium edition bonus creates a divide in the communityby giving those willing to fork over some extra money the opportunity to make those discoveries first, and leaving the rest of the community to pick things up secondhand.
Avowed Features “Incredible Freedom”, As The Developers Claim Players Will Choose Their Own Adventure
The developers behind Avowed are promising players an incredible amount of freedom to make choices with all kinds of consequences.
By making early access the main bonus of the Premium Edition,Avowedisn’t offering players more content, but instead trying to convince players to pay extra to play a game they don’t need to pay extra for. Video games are expensive, which is one reason why Game Pass is already an appealing service, butasking people to pay $25 on top of their subscription just to be able to play the game at the same time as everyone else is unfair.
As one of the first big Game pass releases of 2025,Avowedwill be setting the tone for all the other games to follow it throughout the year. If more games follow this same trend by demanding deluxe prices on top of the already-climbing cost of games, fans could quickly find their wallets strained with little to show for it.Avowedmay be one of theyear’s most anticipated games, but it could also be the cause of one of the year’s biggest problems.
