Avowed's February 2025 Bloodbath: A 2026 Postmortem

Hello, fellow backlog owner. It's 2026, and I'm still emotionally recovering from February 2025. Remember Avowed? The Obsidian action RPG that was supposed to be one of Xbox's big 2024 tentpoles, rubbing shoulders with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Hellblade 2, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6? Yeah. It got delayed. And then it got delayed into a month that looked like a GameStop clearance bin had a baby with a Black Friday stampede.

I was there. I had my calendar. I had my snacks. I had convinced myself that Avowed's move from November 12, 2024—thanks for the accidental leak, Obsidian—to February 18, 2025, was a smart play. Microsoft said it wanted to give players' backlogs some breathing room. Cute. Adorable. The backlogs did not get breathing room. The backlogs got a collective panic attack.

The November 2024 Bullet We Dodged

At first, the delay made sense. November 2024 was already a monster. If Avowed had launched then, it would have been fighting for scraps against:

• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

• Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

• Mario & Luigi: Brothership

• Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake

• Path of Exile 2

• Planet Coaster 2

• Assassin's Creed Shadows (originally November 15)

That's not a release window. That's a hostage situation. So when Xbox pushed Avowed to February 18, 2025, I nodded like a wise old gamer. 'Yes,' I whispered, 'let the game breathe.' Famous last words.

Then February 2025 Said 'Hold My Potion'

By the time the 2025 calendar filled out, February wasn't breathing room. It was a mosh pit with swords. Here's the damage:

Release Date	Game	Why It Hurt
Early February	Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2	Same first-person RPG audience, launched barely a week before Avowed
February 11	Civilization 7	Just one more turn... and one less sale for everyone else
February 18	Avowed	Our hero, trapped in the arena
February 18	Lost Records: Bloom and Rage	Same-day counterprogramming
February 21	Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii	Because why not?
February 28	Monster Hunter Wilds	A kaiju-sized sales vacuum

And Assassin's Creed Shadows, the game Avowed was apparently trying to avoid, also got pushed into February 2025 at the time—though it eventually moved again to March. So the bullet Avowed dodged in November? It came back in February with friends, a knife, and a pre-order bonus.

The Real Problem: Cannibalization Station

I love Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. I love Avowed. But putting them a week apart is like scheduling two Thanksgiving dinners on the same day and expecting me to eat both. One of them is going to get cold. Both games appeal to the same crowd: RPG fans who like choices, swords, and staring at inventory screens until the sun comes up. They were never going to share a peaceful coexistence. They were going to cannibalize each other like two starving wolves in a meat locker.

Microsoft's reasoning for the delay was to spread out first-party releases and avoid a stacked holiday window. Noble. Logical. But the execution? It was like avoiding a traffic jam by driving into a demolition derby. February 2025 was not a quieter month. It was November 2024 wearing a fake mustache.

What Xbox Should Have Done (According to Me, a Random Guy in 2026)

If I could time-travel back to 2024 and whisper in Phil Spencer's ear, I would say: 'January. Mid-January. Please.' January 2025 was practically empty. Dynasty Warriors: Origins was the only major release in the month. Avowed could have had a whole week to itself. It could have been the conversation. It could have let players finish the game before Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 showed up and demanded 80 more hours.

Instead, Avowed launched into a month where every day was a new boss fight. It didn't flop—Obsidian's game found its audience, and I had a great time with it—but it never got the clear runway it deserved. The delay meant to give the game breathing room ended up giving it a panic attack.

The 2026 Lesson

So here we are, in 2026, looking back at the Great February 2025 Pileup. The lesson is simple: delaying a game to avoid a crowded month only works if you actually check the new month's calendar. Xbox traded a November shark tank for a February piranha pit. Avowed survived, but I'm still not sure my backlog did.

If you're a developer planning a delay right now, please, for the love of all that is holy, look at the release schedule. And maybe send me a thank-you note when you pick a quiet week. I'll be here, playing Avowed again, still wondering what could have been. 🎮💀