If you thought today’s Xbox Game Pass lineup was already wild with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Avowed hitting at the same time, Obsidian quietly turned it into an even bigger moment for their fantasy RPG. On top of joining Game Pass for new players, Avowed Anniversary Update is rolling out today, layering in new races, New Game+, Photo Mode, and a pile of quality-of-life upgrades – and it is launching on PlayStation 5 on the same day.
New playable races and the Magic Mirror
One of the biggest additions is Avowed’s expanded character creation. Players are no longer limited to humans and elves; the anniversary update adds three new playable races: Dwarves, Orlans, and Aumauan.
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Dwarves are described as stout and well-traveled, fitting the classic hardy fantasy archetype.
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Orlans stand out with two-toned skin, plenty of hair, and big ears, bringing Pillars of Eternity flavor into first‑person.
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Aumauan are the large, uniquely strong option for players who want their envoy to feel physically imposing.
That alone makes character creation more interesting for fresh Game Pass players, but Obsidian also added a Magic Mirror to the Party Camp so you can re-roll your look mid‑journey. With the Magic Mirror you can switch to one of the new races, try different godlike feature variants, or quickly apply new presets without having to start a brand‑new save.
New Game+ and custom difficulty modifiers
For players who have already finished Avowed, the anniversary update is designed to make a second run actually worth it. Once you complete the game after installing this update, you can spin up a New Game+ file that carries over almost everything that matters: unlocked abilities (except godlike powers), unique weapons and armor, and your unlocked enchantments.
Enemies do not stay at their old power level, though. In New Game+, foes get stat boosts so they hit harder and soak more damage, which is why Obsidian also raises your attribute cap – things like Might, Constitution, Dexterity, and more – from 15 up to 30. That extra headroom gives returning players a reason to chase even more broken builds and lean into Avowed’s combat systems instead of sleepwalking through an overpowered replay.
On top of that, there are new custom game difficulty modifiers that let you tune the experience both directions. You can push enemies to have more health, hit harder, or move faster, or you can soften things if you care more about story exploration. Similarly, there are sliders that let your character do more damage, carry more items, or enjoy larger health, magic, and stamina pools, so the game can skew closer to survival challenge or power fantasy depending on what you want.
Photo Mode, quarterstaff, and quality‑of‑life improvements
The anniversary patch also adds a full Photo Mode, which is a big win for a game that leans heavily on atmosphere and the weird flora and fauna of the Living Lands. Players can now pause, swing the camera, and capture their envoy, companions, and vistas from more cinematic angles to share online.
Combat gets a new toy as well: a quarterstaff weapon type aimed squarely at players who want that archmage or battle‑mage vibe. Combined with Avowed’s mix‑and‑match swords, spells, and guns, the quarterstaff adds another way to build a melee‑leaning caster that still feels distinct from sword‑and‑board or dual‑wielding setups.
The update also rolls in a bunch of smaller but meaningful quality‑of‑life changes. Lighting has been improved in multiple areas, which should make dungeons and night encounters easier on the eyes. There is now an option to skip previously unskippable conversations with a certain god, cutting down on repetition in replays, and some enemies now respawn so zones feel a bit more alive when you backtrack.
Obsidian notes that this builds on a year of post‑launch support, including things like more abilities for fighter and ranger skill trees, an arachnophobia mode, and enemies that can use player abilities, all folded into the current version.
Avowed comes to PlayStation 5 alongside Game Pass
While your first article focused on Game Pass and Xbox, this update is also a platform story. Avowed is now available on PlayStation 5 with the anniversary update and the past year of patches baked in from day one. That means PS5 players are getting the “definitive” version right out of the gate, including the new races, New Game+, Photo Mode, quarterstaff, and all of the tuning and accessibility work the team has shipped since launch.
On the Xbox side, Avowed remains available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, ROG Ally‑style handhelds, Xbox Cloud, Battle.net, and Steam, supporting Xbox Play Anywhere and sitting inside Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. For anyone trying it through Game Pass, the anniversary patch is effectively the base version now; you are not downloading a “vanilla” Avowed and then chasing DLC, just playing the evolved build.
Why this matters for today’s Game Pass story
Taken together, the anniversary update turns Avowed’s Game Pass arrival into more than a simple “now available” bullet point. New players are getting a more flexible character creator, better mid‑game respec options, and a richer endgame loop with New Game+. Returning players have strong reasons to come back, especially if they want to test high‑attribute builds against tougher enemies or screenshot the Living Lands in Photo Mode.
As a follow‑up to your original “Avatar and Avowed on Game Pass today” article, this piece gives you a clean angle: Avowed’s Game Pass debut lines up with its biggest update yet, plus a simultaneous PS5 launch, giving the RPG a genuine second wind across platforms.
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