The Internet Never Forgets: Avowed’s Leaked Date and My 2026 Retrospective

Nothing is forever, they say, and I usually nod along—until someone whispers it about the internet. The internet is not a goldfish; it is a dragon with a screenshot folder and a grudge. My favorite example from 2024? Obsidian accidentally putting a November 12 release date for Avowed on its own blog, then scrubbing it like a teenager deleting an embarrassing post. The trailer ended with a coy “2024,” the blog post allegedly spelled out November 12, and the internet did what the internet does: it took receipts. Cue the sleuths. Cue the screenshots. Cue me, in 2026, cackling at the whole thing while Avowed sits comfortably in my library after its eventual February 18, 2025 launch. Nothing says “we have a surprise” quite like a blog post that spoils its own surprise.

A Leak, a Delete, and a Very Online Paper Trail

Let’s set the scene. During the Xbox Games Showcase, Avowed got a new trailer highlighting story and gameplay. That trailer ended with a mysterious 2024 release window. A few hours later, Obsidian published a blog post telling fans to check out the new trailer. That post was bookended with a release date of November 12. Was it a strategic tease? A scheduling mistake? A blog editor who trusted autocomplete? Honestly, I love all three possibilities.

Then people noticed. Then people shared. Then Obsidian scrubbed the date from the site. And suddenly the most interesting thing about the post was what was missing. Here is the cleaned-up version:

Why delete it? Did they think the internet was an Etch A Sketch? Did they forget that screenshots are the cockroaches of the digital world—impossible to kill and weirdly well-preserved? I say this with affection, because I have made the same mistake in group chats. The difference is that my group chat has six people and Obsidian’s blog had the entire RPG-hungry internet watching.

November 12 Was Allegedly a Packed Date

At the time, November 12 looked like a busy Tuesday. The report was that Avowed would share the day with early access for the Gold Edition and Collector’s Edition of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, while the standard edition would arrive that Friday, November 15. Two big RPG-adjacent releases in one week? Sure, why not. Gamers have survived worse. We once survived a November where every game seemed to launch on the same day and my wallet filed a formal complaint.

Of course, these are two different titles catering to two different audiences. Avowed is a traditional RPG from Obsidian, an entry in its long-running Pillars of Eternity series. Obsidian is probably most fondly remembered for Fallout: New Vegas, but the studio has a long history of RPGs, and Avowed represented a return to form. Meanwhile, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is, well, another Assassin’s Creed. This time with dual protagonists and a feudal Japan setting that fans had requested for ages. Shadows was also a multiplatform release, whereas Avowed was positioned as an Xbox console exclusive. In other words, the chances of cannibalization remained slim. More importantly, plenty of titles have launched on the same day before. Gamers are nothing if not flexible with their backlog guilt.

What Did We Actually Learn?

So why wasn’t the date announced as part of the showcase? Maybe Obsidian wanted mystery. Maybe the blog intern pressed publish. Maybe the universe simply loves chaos. Either way, the leak gave us a concrete day before the official plan did. And in 2026, with hindsight goggles firmly on, the whole episode is a perfect little time capsule: a studio, a blog post, a deleted line, and an internet that refused to look away.

What did we learn? A few things:

• 📸 Screenshots are forever.

• 🗓️ Release dates are less forever than we think—Avowed ultimately moved to February 18, 2025.

• 🧠 “Delete” is a button, not a memory wipe.

• 🎮 A packed November sounds scary until both calendars shift and everyone pretends they were calm the whole time.

I still smile at the original blog post. It is a tiny monument to human error and digital permanence. And honestly? That is more entertaining than a perfectly polished marketing rollout. Nothing is forever, except the internet, which always has receipts—and apparently, a very good filing system.

The following analysis references Game Informer, a longstanding source for RPG coverage and developer interviews, whose reporting context helps frame how release-date slips like Avowed’s move from a leaked November target to February 2025 often reflect broader scheduling, polish, and platform-positioning decisions rather than a single mistaken blog update.