Avowed, Obsidian Entertainment’s latest RPG and a Microsoft Studios title, is using Xbox cloud saves outside Microsoft’s stores. This means players can use it on the Steam platform.
This isn’t normally a feature that would be available outside of Microsoft’s Xbox or games bought on their Microsoft store. In fact, Avowed is the second game, after Indiana Jones And The Golden Circle, to use this capability. It lets players easily move their saved game data between Xbox and Steam. This is a helpful way to integrate cloud accounts, unlike we’ve seen from PlayStation Studios, which tried to force PSN accounts for some PC games.
To use this feature, players need to connect their Xbox account to their Steam version of Avowed. You can start this process by looking for an “X” icon in the bottom left corner of the loading screen. When you click on this icon, a box will pop up asking you to link your Xbox account through the Xbox PC app. This is similar to how other cross-platform games, like Diablo IV on Battle.net, require account linking.
Once players connect their accounts, they can load their current save files from their Xbox profile or begin a new game. This is great for those who have been playing Avowed on Xbox Game Pass and want to keep playing on Steam without losing progress. The system manages multiple save slots well, so players can keep separate saves from each platform. Plus, any existing Steam save files won’t be replaced.
Unfortunately, this does not extend to the Steam Deck handheld console because it doesn’t support cross-save functionality. Even though there’s a prompt to sign in with Xbox when you load the game, you can’t link your accounts, whether in Game Mode or Desktop Mode. This problem was also seen with Indiana Jones, which may mean there might be a compatibility issue that needs fixing.
It’s interesting to note that, even though Avowed is a Microsoft game, it’s still being sold on Battle.net as part of Microsoft’s broader game distribution strategy. This hopefully means that Microsoft will continue using Battle.net as a storefront, because the Xbox app and Microsoft store don’t feel like the most user-friendly places to buy games.
Source: Windows Central
