Think about dubbed audio next time, please

[horvan]

Hello, dear Avowed Community
Hello, dear Obsidian Team.

I'm thrilled that Avowed has turned out so great and could actually outshine the 20-year-old Elder Scrolls franchise. The story is good, the graphics are fine, the combat system isn't boring, and everything is great.

But it's an entertainment product. As such, it should allow me, as a customer, to relax and, in the best-case scenario, immerse myself in the game's world and forget the evils of everyday life.

However, this only works to a limited extent because, as a non-native speaker, I constantly have to read subtitles or my brain has to work hard to understand what the actors behind the characters are actually saying. That takes a lot of energy. That's why a lot of immersion is lost here.
So, if you were to make a second part of Avowed, or a third or a fourth, or even the next Pillars of Eternity, for that matter, please consider investing a little money in proper dubbing in French, Spanish, and German. It would enhance your games so much.

I personally have decided that I will only play Avowed on Game Pass. Why? Because as a customer, I expect a game that I have to pay €80-100 for to be dubbed in my native language.

I don't know who at Obsidian or Microsoft makes the decision about whether or not a game is localised. But I'm offended by you. And I won't pay €80-100 for your product if you can't even manage to dub your games into my native language.

What is this? When planning a game as great as Avowed, who makes the stupid decision to limit the localisation of the game to just the UI and a few subtitles?

If the person on your team who made that decision and is responsible for us not having a version of Avowed dubbed into multiple languages, then I beg that person, whether they're on the development team, in accounting, HR, or middle or upper management, to stop doing that. Avowed is surely a great game. But it could be so much better for so many potential full-price buyers if the game's dialogue hadn't been recorded in English only. That would have at least doubled the game's sales figures.

I'm pretty sure that we won't get voice acting in languages other than English in Obsidian's next game just because of this post, but at least I said it. As a disappointed fan, that's all I can do. The rest is up to you.

What's the point? When planning a game as great as Avowed, who makes the stupid decision to limit the localisation of the game to just the UI and a few subtitles?

If the person on your team who made that decision and is responsible for us not having a version of Avowed dubbed into multiple languages, then I beg that person, whether they're on the development team, in accounting, HR, or middle or upper management. Stop it, just stop. Avowed is definitely a great game. But it could be so much better for so many potential full-price buyers if the game's dialogue hadn't been recorded in English only. That would have at least doubled the game's sales figures.

I'm pretty sure that we won't get voiceovers in languages other than English in Obsidian's next game just because of this post, but at least I've said it. As a disappointed fan, that's all I can do. The rest is up to you.

 

I would like to hear from you why this decision was made. I   also hope that you will think about how to solve this issue for your next big project. Obsidian makes such great games, and then something like this happens.  I'm sure you can do better than that.