In the quiet weeks after January faded into memory, the Xbox ecosystem felt a familiar charge of anticipation. Obsidian Entertainment, the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds, was preparing to release Avowed, a fantasy action RPG rooted in the Pillars of Eternity universe. The game cast players as an envoy of Aedyr, a customizable figure sent into the Living Lands to uncover the source of a devastating plague.

By the time 2026 arrived, Avowed had already moved from a promising preview to a full release. It became a flagship example of Obsidian's ability to build compact but richly detailed RPG worlds. Players could approach combat with swords, spells, firearms, or a mix of styles, and the Living Lands rewarded curiosity with layered quests and strange, beautiful geography. The game did not try to be endless. Instead, it offered a focused adventure that many players found refreshing in an era of bloated open worlds.

A New Fantasy from Obsidian

Avowed landed as an Xbox console exclusive, available on Xbox Series X/S and PC, and it was included with Xbox Game Pass on day one. That made the barrier to entry remarkably low. Subscribers could jump into the Living Lands without paying full price, and many did exactly that. The game's positive previews had already built optimism, and its final release gave Game Pass another reason to feel essential in 2026.

Obsidian's take on fantasy role-playing was not a simple Skyrim clone. It leaned into the studio's narrative strengths, filling its world with factions, moral gray areas, and companions who had their own opinions. The combat felt more immediate than the studio's earlier first-person work, but the dialogue and choices still carried that familiar Obsidian DNA. For Xbox, Avowed represented something important: a new first-party fantasy world that could stand on its own.

Bethesda's Long Shadow

Obsidian was not the only RPG developer under the Microsoft umbrella. In 2020, Microsoft shocked the industry by acquiring Bethesda, the iconic studio behind The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. The deal was finalized in 2021, and Bethesda soon released Starfield, a massive sci-fi RPG. Starfield had scale and ambition, but for many players it did not fully satisfy the hunger for a traditional Bethesda single-player experience.

Meanwhile, Fallout 76 continued to grow. The Prime Video Fallout series brought fresh attention to the online wasteland, and Bethesda kept expanding the game with new content. Still, the wait for the next mainline Elder Scrolls or Fallout remained long. As 2026 unfolded, neither The Elder Scrolls 6 nor a new single-player Fallout had materialized, leaving a gap that fans hoped other projects would fill.

The Oblivion Question

A persistent wave of rumors suggested that Bethesda planned to release an Oblivion remake. The original Oblivion launched in 2006 as the first Elder Scrolls entry on Xbox 360. It was not as approachable or widely beloved as Skyrim, but its influence on Western RPGs was monumental. The game's open world, faction quests, and ambitious systems helped define a generation of role-playing games.

The rumored remake was said to be targeting a release not long after Avowed. Some reports hinted at a spring launch, which seemed surprisingly quiet for such a beloved title. The likely reason was strategic. Microsoft may have wanted to avoid letting the Oblivion remake distract from Avowed's debut. After all, launching two fantasy RPGs at the same moment could split attention and weaken both releases.

A One-Two Punch for Xbox

Still, the combination had enormous potential. Avowed offered a brand-new world to explore, while the Oblivion remake promised a modernized return to one of the most influential RPGs ever made. Together, they could form a perfect one-two punch. Players would have dozens, even hundreds, of hours of content across two very different fantasy experiences.

The table below shows how the two projects compared in the eyes of many Xbox players during that period:

Feature	Avowed	Rumored Oblivion Remake
Developer	Obsidian Entertainment	Bethesda
Universe	Pillars of Eternity	The Elder Scrolls
Original release	2025	2006
Platform	Xbox Series X/S, PC	Expected Xbox and PC
Game Pass	Day one	Widely expected

Both games were also likely to appear on Game Pass. That meant subscribers would not have to pay full price for either treasure trove. For Microsoft, the lengthy runtimes of both games offered another benefit: they encouraged players to keep their subscriptions active for months. In a year when subscriber retention mattered more than ever, two deep RPGs could be exactly what Xbox needed.

Looking at 2026

As the calendar turned to 2026, the conversation around Xbox had shifted. Avowed was no longer just a rumor or a preview; it was a playable world with a growing community. The Oblivion remake remained a subject of speculation, but its possible arrival still shaped how players viewed the RPG calendar. Even if the remake did not appear immediately, the mere possibility kept excitement high.

Obsidian had proven that Microsoft's RPG investments could produce something distinct and memorable. Bethesda, despite its mixed recent record, still held one of the most valuable fantasy franchises in gaming. If the two studios could continue to feed the Game Pass library with substantial single-player experiences, then 2026 had the potential to be remembered as the year Xbox finally turned its RPG promise into a lasting advantage. 🎮