Avowed: When Does Obsidian’s New Action RPG Take Place on the Pillars of Eternity Timeline?

Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming action-RPG Avowed is set in the same universe as the studio’s Pillars of Eternity games. This begs the question: when does Avowed take place on the Pillars of Eternity timeline?

Avowed’s Position on the Pillars of Eternity Timeline, Explained

Avowed takes place after both the original Pillars of Eternity and its sequel, Deadfire. We know this in part thanks to Avowed‘s 2024 Gamescom gameplay preview. Player conversations with NPCs shown in the Gamescom preview frame Deadfire baddie Eothas’ awakening (and everything that followed) as old news. As such, Avowed unfolds after Deadfire and, by extension, after Pillars of Eternity, too.

What does this mean, timeline-wise? It’s hard to say. See, Obsidian still hasn’t settled on a firm in-universe date for Avowed (not publicly, at least). All we know is that the action-RPG kicks off “a few years” after Deadfire; director Carrie Patel said as much in a no-longer-available Game Informer interview. Assuming this equates to two or three years, then Avowed takes place seven or eight years after Pillars of Eternity (as canonically, there’s a five-year gap between Pillars and Deadfire).

For the Pillars of Eternity chronology buffs among you, this positions Avowed‘s narrative somewhere between 2830-2831 AI.

Related: Obsidian’s Avowed Is the Smaller-Scale Skyrim I Didn’t Know I Needed

Is Avowed a Direct Sequel to Deadfire?

Nope, Avowed is a standalone game. Carrie Patel confirmed this in a 2024 Eurogamer interview, insisting that franchise newcomers can enjoy Avowed without playing the previous Pillars of Eternity titles first.

Related: All Pre-Order Bonuses and Editions for Avowed

“Players who are familiar with past games will certainly recognise some concepts and even a few characters – certain events that they either saw or heard about in those old games do occasionally come up in references in Avowed,” she said. “But we wanted to make sure that this was an experience that players having their first adventure in the world of Eora could jump right into. So those references are there for people who are going to get them and appreciate them, but players who aren’t familiar with them will skate right on through them.”

Avowed is slated for release on Windows and Xbox Series X/S on Feb. 18, 2025.