Josh Sawyer explained why he didn’t direct Avowed, even though it’s set in the world of Pillars of Eternity

After the announcement of Avowed, many have wondered why it was not directed by Josh Sawyerin fact the author of the first two Pillars of Eternity, which share the setting with the new action role-playing game. Now it has arrived the explanation from Sawyer himself.

We are talking about one of the most acclaimed authors of living electronic role-playing games, who can boast in his portfolio titles such as Fallout: New Vegasconsidered the best 3D chapter of the series, as well as Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights 2 and the recent Pentiment.

He was exhausted

At minute 30:05 of the second video of the Q&A session he held on YouTube over the past few days, Sawyer explained that, simply, “he was exhausted”.

“The project was conceived by Feargus Urquhart, my boss. [il CEO di Obsidian Entertainment, lo studio per cui lavora]”, Sawyer explained. “He thought of it right after [Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire] – I don’t remember exactly when it was conceived, let’s say a year later – but after Deadfire I was exhausted, like exhausted with a capital E. I wasn’t exhausted by Pillars in particular, but I couldn’t direct anything. I wasn’t interested.”

Sawyer then explained that It was Pentiment who lifted him upmaking him want to “direct again… for a while I was just giving advice and stuff like that.” Sawyer’s experience with his latest game was beneficial for Obsidian Entertainment in general, because it made it clear that pursuing smaller projects could be good for the studio. It seems that Grounded, one of Obsidian’s biggest hits, was born from there.

Swayer went on to explain that he didn’t feel personally responsible for the fantasy world he helped create. “I know this is going to sound crazy to some people, but I don’t care. It’s not mine. ,” he said. “My mentality with anything I do — I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, I’m saying that’s the way it is for me — is that I have no control over the intellectual property that I develop while I’m working for another company. That’s just the way it is.

Sawyer then explained that he was aware that It is not up to him to choose the use of intellectual property: “I’m certainly willing to give my opinion on where an IP goes or how it’s used, but I don’t feel like an overprotective parent, because it doesn’t belong to me anymore – it never really belonged to me.”