Avowed Is Now Safe To Play For The Estimated 1.2 Billion Arachnophobes

Published 7 days ago

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earning positive reviews, but that doesn't mean the developer has moved on from the game entirely.

According to the patch notes on Obsidian's website (via IGN), Avowed now has an arachnophobia safe mode, which turns its many spider-like enemies into amorphous blobs wielding swords. The Cleveland Clinic estimates that as much as 15% of the world's population qualifies as having arachnophobia, a fear of arachnids, or spiders. There are roughly 8 billion people on Earth (give or take about 60 million), 15% of which equals about 1.2 billion, a staggering number of people who could now play Avowed without fear.

Of course, the actual number of arachnophobes could be much lower. A more conservative estimate is 3% of the population, or a measly 240 million people. Arachnophobia mode isn't the only new addition to Avowed either. It comes as part of the game's spring update, with subsequent patches expected in summer and fall 2025, bringing a wide range of new and improved features, like custom map markers, new game plus, and photo mode.

We are excited to announce a host of new content coming to the Living Lands! Check out the Update Roap to see what's in store for the future of Avowed. Details: bit.ly/4jY0NhS — Obsidian (@obsidian.net) 2025-05-15T17:33:54.277Z

Avowed Update Adds Arachnophobia Mode, M&K For Xbox, & More

Biggest Changes In Avowed Patch 1.4

Avowed's update to version 1.4 was rather hefty, even aside from the addition of arachnophobia mode. Hiding down in the patch notes is a significant development for Xbox s: mouse and keyboard . The patch also brings a great quality of life feature regarding the map, where thoroughly exploring a region will eventually remove all the fog of war. Other significant changes include better loot distribution, higher frequency of pre-upgraded loot, better rewards for following Avowed's quests, and a greater number of crafting materials to find, which should make scaling equipment into the endgame easier.

More sweeping changes will come to Avowed later this year. The roap shows that the following are on the docket for the summer and fall updates:

Cooking and crafting improvements
New NPC abilities and behaviors
New active and ive abilities
New unique weapons and armor
Custom map markers
New game plus
Photo mode
New weapon type
Changing appearance in world
New character presets
More Godlike feature presets

Avowed's spring patch is live now, but there is no word on when to expect the summer and fall updates, aside from their respective seasons.

Avowed Really, Really Needed An Arachnophobia Mode

So Many Spiders

Avowed spider-like monster that is very large and covered in purple crystals.

It was a bit surprising to see Avowed release without an arachnophobia mode. Such accessibility options are continuously rising in prominence, and Avowed was a prime candidate for the option. Avowed has a tremendous number of spider enemies throughout the game, with variants appearing in every single region, often in decently large numbers and of hulking sizes. I wouldn't call myself an arachnophobe, and I got used to the spiders in Avowed quickly, but I still don't like the things.

Arachnophobia is one of the more common fears, and with gaming's recent push toward being more inclusive, it's nice to see such a feature prominently promoted by Obsidian months after release. Part of the problem is that Avowed doesn't have exceptional enemy variety, which is likely too large of a problem to address now. Regardless, congratulations to the potentially 1.2 billion people who can now play Avowed without fear of being confronted by a spider-like abomination.

Sources: Obsidian (via IGN), Cleveland Clinic, Obsidian/Bluesky