Does Avowed have romance?

Avowed is bursting onto the scene as one of the biggest Xbox releases of the year, directly on Game Pass for those with a subscription, and there are plenty of questions to answer. If you’ve been wondering if the game has romance, we’ve got the answer.

Obsidian Games is expanding on the world first introduced in the Pillars of Eternity with Avowed. It offers an entirely new adventure across the Living Lands, filled with vibrant environments, detailed storytelling, and rich characters.

Romance options have been a popular feature in RPG titles, particularly with the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3, and we’ve got all the details you need.

Is there romance in Avowed?

No, there are no romance options in Avowed. Although companions will react to your decisions and big moments in the story, there is no direct romance—although you can be flirtatious in dialogue choices.

Companions will make it clear when they disagree with your decision, although there are no direct consequences, and there is no chance of upsetting companions so much that they leave your party.

In an interview with Windows Central, creative director Carrie Patel admitted that it was “very seriously talked about” but that if it was included in the game, they wanted to offer “an equally meaningful non-romance path.”

In the end, they decided to focus on other aspects of companions rather than offering romance in a way that wouldn’t do it justice. Patel explained: “Given how much we were investing in our companions as characters who are really tied to the central story in a way that they haven’t been in many of our previous games, we wanted to make sure that if we were going to do romance, we were going to really, really, really do it right — or not at all. For Avowed, we decided to focus on other aspects of our companions.”

Although there aren’t relationships, there are still close ties with the companions that join you on your adventure in the Living Lands. They’ll interact with you in camp and while on quests, reacting to the events they’ve witnessed and your choices.

Patel said that companions’ dialogue includes “reflecting on quests you’ve done, the events that you’ve seen together,” and “the journey thus far.” But there are also personal moments where they reflect on a conflict, something that is deep and core to their story.

If you interact regularly with companions in camps, you can “spend a lot of time getting to know these characters” and unravel their stories. But this is up to you and isn’t forced upon you, so you can focus on the adventure.