Back in 2019, Obsidian Entertainment, the acclaimed developer behind Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, Grounded, and Avowed, created a new sci-fi RPG called The Outer Worlds. This game was loved by critics and fans for its engrossing world-building, stellar combat system, witty writing, and dark humor.
Fast forward to 2025, and Obsidian Entertainment is now looking to expand this franchise’s universe with The Outer Worlds 2.
This upcoming Xbox title with its own upcoming PC launch promises to take players to grander worlds with improved, immersive visuals, more customization options for players to forge their character with, more intriguing companions to recruit, and a gripping storyline that goes in wild, galaxy-altering directions depending on the player’s choices.
Here's everything you need to know about The Outer Worlds 2.
The Outer Worlds 2 – Release date and platforms
When is The Outer Worlds 2's release date and what platforms will it be on?
Answer: The Outer Worlds 2 currently has a tentative release date of 2025, and it will be released on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Windows and Steam.
While The Outer Worlds 2 has no firmly concrete release date as of yet, it has been confirmed The Outer Worlds will be released sometime during 2025 and that it will be coming to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Windows and Steam.
The Outer Worlds 2 – What is The Outer Worlds 2?
What is The Outer Worlds 2?
Answer: The Outer Worlds 2 is a single-player, first-person RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. Your goal is to solve the mystery behind a deadly threat that could destroy humanity while resolving a violent civil war between various factions on the colony of Arcadia.
The Outer Worlds 2 is a single-player, narrative-focused, first-person RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios.
The story is set in a faraway galaxy that’s currently experiencing a crisis where unnatural rifts are threatening to destroy all of mankind. As the Earth Directorate agent, you are tasked to investigate the cause of this phenomenon, which leads you to a colony called Arcadia.
Arcadia, in the midst of a bloody war between the colony’s ruling Protectorate, a religious order, and an invading corporation, all vying for control.
If you hope to get to the bottom of the rift mystery and save humanity, you will need to deal with Arcadia’s factions by any means you deem necessary, whether it's through diplomacy or through good old-fashioned violence.
The Outer Worlds 2 – Xbox Game Pass
Is The Outer Worlds 2 coming to Xbox Game Pass?
Answer: Yes. The Outer Worlds 2 will be available on Xbox Game Pass via consoles, PC, and Cloud on the same day the game launches.
Obsidian Entertainment has confirmed that The Outer Worlds 2 will be added to the vast library of Xbox Game Pass games on the same date the game launches.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to play The Outer Worlds 2 via Xbox Game Pass on consoles, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming.
The Outer Worlds 2 – Gameplay
What will The Outer Worlds 2’s gameplay be like?
Answer: The Outer Worlds 2’s gameplay will involve heavy exploration of Arcadia’s world, conversing with characters with multiple dialogue choices that can shape the course of the story, first-person combat involving gunplay, melee weapons, and unique abilities, and a deep character creation system.
The gameplay of The Outer Worlds 2 will have you exploring Arcadia, other worlds, and their moons to solve the mystery of the rifts and deal with Arcadia’s factions. The direction of the story will be based on dialogue choices the player makes throughout the game, and there will be tons of them.
These dialogue choices can lead to joining forces or making enemies with one of the factions, resolving conflicts without starting a fight, recruiting companions to join your crew, and much more.
However, there will be times when talking your way out of trouble isn’t an option and fighting is the best solution. The Outer Worlds 2’s combat system will have you wield a huge arsenal of futuristic, deadly guns and melee weapons, along with powerful skills and abilities to dispatch your enemies with.
You can take the stealthy approach, killing enemies one by one without notice, blowing them up with heavy ordinance, charging at them with shotguns and scythes, and much more.
How you choose to dispatch your enemies is up to your preferred playstyle and how you build your character during character creation.
According to an interview with IGN, Obsidian Entertainment says that The Outer Worlds 2 will feature a more complex character creation system than the first game.
It will include with lots of new Perks to play with like ‘Psychopath’ and ‘Serial Killer’ which grant permanent health boosts if you go around killing every NPC in sight, ‘Run & Gun’ which allows you shoot guns while sliding, sprinting and activating Tactical Time Dilation, and ‘Space Ranger’ which gives you a damage buff based on your Speech stat and unique dialogue options.
Character creation goes even further with the reworked Trait system, which will give you massive buffs towards certain playstyles at the cost of nerfing certain aspects of your character (with hilarious results).
How it works is if you take a Positive Trait to enhance your character, you will be forced to take a Negative Trait that weakens your character to compensate for it.
Some of these Positive and Negative Traits include but are not limited to ‘Brawny’ which gives you the ability to knock down enemies with sprinting into them, ‘Brilliant’ which grants you extra Skill points, ‘Dumb’ which prevents you from investing Skills points into five Skills, and ‘Sickly’ which permanently decreases your base health and toxicity tolerance stats.
What’s important to note is that Obsidian Entertainment has confirmed that there will be no respeccing of your character’s stats, skills, and Traits in the game after you’re done with character creation.
So you will need to think carefully about what kind of character you want to make before jumping into the universe of The Outer Worlds 2.
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