Microsoft's 'Avowed' advanced access inexplicably skips Xbox Cloud Gaming in favor of NVIDIA GeForce Now, putting Xbox customers last

Avowed launched in early access yesterday to generally positive reception. The latest RPG from Obsidian, known for games like Fallout New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity, launched exclusively on Xbox and Steam with a premium early access period — because it's 2025. Avowed's early access will set you back an additional $23 ahead of its Xbox Game Pass general launch next week, giving Microsoft an additional revenue stream to make up for cannibalized sales from its Netflix-like gaming subscription service. But what if you're someone who wanted to pay for early access and enjoy the benefits of your pricey Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription? To you, Microsoft is unfortunately saying "no thanks."

Avowed is an action RPG in a first-person perspective, set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. It sports Obsidian's typical gameplay stylings, including choice and consequence via a branching story narrative, player expression with playstyle choices, in a large and satisfyingly-explorable world. The game should be an idea Xbox Cloud Gaming partner, given its gameplay format, but Microsoft seems to disagree.

Indeed, yesterday I began receiving messages from users on X (Twitter) asking when Avowed early access would go live on Xbox Cloud Gaming. Inexplicably, it seems that Avowed simply isn't planned to go live on Xbox Cloud Gaming until next week, even if you own the premium access version.

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Microsoft might have some kind of business-y type explanation for as to why that is, but, it would get blown to smithereens when you consider the early access period is available on rival cloud service NVIDIA GeForce Now.

Now, I'm not suggesting there's some kind of nefarious reason as to why Microsoft decided to support NVIDIA GeForce Now over Xbox Cloud Gaming for Avowed. I am suggesting that the oversight is an irritating and sadly typical inconsistency that Microsoft's gaming services often run on. This is why Microsoft's "This is an Xbox" campaign was so frustrating to watch play out, as the marketing campaign aimed to showcase things like Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Cloud Gaming, neither of which I would described as being "fully baked."

Microsoft recently added the ability to play "buy to own" games on Xbox Cloud Gaming, which would surely have been the right avenue to light up Avowed on the platform. The system does support DLC entitlements for deluxe edition features and the like, so it's hard for me to envision that this is due to some kind of technical issue. Some have suggested that it could be due to regulatory issues, with the UK CMA having previously forced Microsoft to give up rights to Activision Blizzard's cloud games to Ubisoft. However, I'm unaware of Obsidian titles being covered in any such ruling, although I am investigating as of writing.

We've reached out to Microsoft to ask why Avowed's advanced access period includes NVIDIA GeForce Now, but doesn't include Xbox Cloud Gaming, and to inquire what Microsoft's policies are for the increased amount of games with "advanced access" premium passes when it comes to cloud gaming.

Microsoft has all the parts in play to really create something truly special across its platforms. The ability to buy Avowed on multiple platforms, take my save files anywhere, and play on almost any device is a definite glimpse of a potent Xbox gaming future — but nailing these details should be at the forefront of Microsoft's mind in my view.

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I think it's very poor form to treat your most loyal customers this way, ones who not only have paid for early access but also Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, only to ultimately not deliver. Microsoft definitely needs to better here, in my view.

In any case, we'll let you know what Microsoft plans to do to fix this situation, if anything, as soon as possible.