The Outer Worlds 2 is a 2025 action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is a standalone sequel to The Outer Worlds (2019), set in the Arcadia star system that has been invaded by a megacorporation. Players assume control of the protagonist, an Earth Directorate Agent, who is tasked with uncovering the source of emerging rifts that threaten to destroy the colony amidst a factional war.
In line with its predecessor, The Outer Worlds 2 features a first-person perspective, additionally, the ability to switch to a third-person perspective has been introduced to the series, which was unavailable in the first entry outside of limited sequences. The gameplay involves alternating between various combat, stealth and dialogue systems when encountering hostile non-playable characters in the overworld. The game also retains its predecessor's dialogue tree system which influences the branching story paths depending on how the player interacts with their party and other supporting characters throughout the narrative.
The Outer Worlds 2 began development shortly following the release of the first game in 2019, and had entered full development two years later. Tim Cain, who co-directed the first game before leaving Obsidian in 2020, remained involved as a creative consultant during production.
The Outer Worlds 2 was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on October 29, 2025. It received generally favorable reviews from critics.
Gameplay
The Outer Worlds 2 is an action role-playing game that is played in either first-person or third-person perspective. Players can use melee weapons and firearms to defeat enemies. The game features an expanded selection of weapons, better visuals, and an increased focus on action compared to the first game, according to Obsidian Entertainment.[2] It will be set in a new solar system with a new cast of characters.[3]
Synopsis
Setting
The Outer Worlds 2 takes place in an alternate timeline where U.S. President William McKinley was not assassinated in 1901. As a result, he was never succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt, a vocal anti-monopolist who pushed to break up the growing business trusts of the time. Without his intervention, society eventually became dominated by autocratic megacorporations that maintained a rigid class system based on capitalism, consumption and brand loyalty. After a devastating global war in the mid-21st century, faster-than-light travel was invented, allowing humanity to colonize the universe with different intentions and fates for the various expeditions. The art, architecture, and technology of the various colonies scattered throughout the universe display a unique blend of Art Nouveau, steampunk, and dieselpunk aesthetics.
Set in the year 2362, the game takes place in Arcadia, a star system comprising the planets Hemera, Elysium, Nyx, and Recluse. Most of the game's action takes place around Elysium's four moons: Eden, Dorado, Cloister, and Praetor. The colony was initially controlled by the Protectorate of Arcadia, an authoritarian regime that traces its founding to the supposed inventor of faster-than-light technology, Alexandra Varick. Seeking to escape the powerful megacorporations on Earth, she led the initiative to colonize Arcadia, establishing humanity's first interstellar colony. Over a century later, the Protectorate maintains a cult of personality around Varick (posthumously known as the Matriarch) and her descendants, enforcing their rule under threat of a form of re-education referred to as “mental refreshment”. They also continue to be the colonies’ sole manufacturer of skip drives, the technology that makes interstellar travel possible.
The player takes control of a commander of the Earth Directorate, an administrative body tasked with maintaining order in the various colonies. The Commander and their team, on their ship the Incognito, are sent to Arcadia to investigate the appearance of interdimensional rifts that have cut off trade and communication between the colonies; if left unchecked, they threaten to destroy the universe. There, they come to find the Protectorate engaged in conflict against two factions: Auntie's Choice, a megacorporation that seeks to overthrow the Protectorate in order to monopolize the colony and skip drive technology for themselves; and the Order of the Ascendant, a former branch of the Protectorate dedicated to scientific research before splintering from the regime after the invasion began. The player has the choice of helping either, both, or neither of these factions in the war for control of Arcadia.
Plot
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In the year 2352, three years before the events of the first game, a team of Earth Directorate agents (led by the player character, referred to as the Commander) are sent to Arcadia to investigate the sudden appearance of interdimensional rifts throughout the galaxy. Following intelligence gathered by fellow agent Augustine de Vries, who had infiltrated the Protectorate before the team's arrival, they trace the origins of the rifts to Horizon Point Station, a skip drive manufacturing facility run by the Protectorate. During the infiltration, De Vries deviates from the team's directive and activates an experimental skip drive, creating a new rift that destroys the station. The Commander uses an escape pod to launch themselves into space, while nearly everyone left behind is killed.
Cryogenically frozen inside the pod, the Commander floats in space for ten years before being rescued by Niles Abara, a fellow Earth Directorate agent who narrowly survived Horizon Point's destruction. He reveals that De Vries also survived, and he had spent the past decade trying to find her and seek vengeance for the rest of the team's deaths. He also explains that in the time that has passed, the megacorporation Auntie's Choice (a merger of pharmaceutical company Auntie Cleo's and consumer goods manufacturer Spacer's Choice) is three years into a hostile invasion of Arcadia, seeking to claim both the Protectorate's skip drive technology and the star system's wealth of natural resources. Additionally, the Protectorate's scientific research division, the Order of the Ascendant, has split from the regime and is now engaged in conflict with both the Protectorate and Auntie's Choice.
Tracking down De Vries, the duo learns that while investigating the Protectorate, she became enamored with the Order's doctrine of arithmetically-based predestination known as the Universal Equation and adopted an extremist interpretation of the creed. The Commander, Niles, and their allies confront each of De Vries’ conspirators and eventually learn of her plans to disrupt the ongoing peace talks between the Order and Auntie's Choice by assassinating their delegates. At the space station where the negotiations are taking place, the team intervenes, at which point De Vries reveals that her actions on Horizon Point were intended to prevent both the Protectorate and Auntie's Choice from ultimately using skip-drive technology to inadvertently open more rifts and destroy the universe, as had been predetermined by the Universal Equation. The player is able to either kill or spare De Vries, with the latter option possibly leading to the deaths of the peace delegates as well. Regardless of either outcome, another rift opens and destroys the station, with all surviving parties escaping.
In order to close the rifts permanently, the team use data collected by De Vries to determine their strategy, which includes stealing a “Rift Modulator” from a Protectorate research facility that has the power to open rifts and recover what was lost in them. They also learn that the Earth Directorate, unable to directly contact the team sent to Arcadia, had launched a satellite containing all research relating to rifts. The density of the data requires using a supercomputer in the Order's Archives, currently controlled by the Protectorate. To aid in retaking the Archives, the team can choose to ally themselves with the Order or Auntie's Choice, and with the right skill-sets, even encourage the two factions to collaborate.
After tasking the computer with decrypting and analyzing the data, Horizon Point Station suddenly reappears, albeit in a decayed state.
Development
During development of the first game, Obsidian Entertainment was acquired by Microsoft and integrated as a first-party developer for Xbox Game Studios in November 2018.[4] While the arrangement did not affect the game's original distribution plans,[5] Microsoft acquired all publishing duties for "future iterations" of The Outer Worlds from Private Division by May 2021.[6][7] A sequel to the game had entered development in September 2019, two months before The Outer Worlds launched.[8][9]
In January 2024, The Outer Worlds director Tim Cain, who left Obsidian in 2020 and considered himself retired from the games industry, revealed that he remained attached to The Outer Worlds 2 as a creative consultant during its production.[10] Cain praised the game's team as they had "figured out" a solution to a specific problem the developer had continued to struggle with across all his previous titles, referencing production notes he recalled from creating the original Fallout in 1997, and he frequently assisted staff in identifying "pitfalls" in the game's overall quality.[11][12] In August 2024, Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart provided an update on the game, saying it "is looking incredible" despite conflicts with the game's planned production timeline.[13][14]
Release
The Outer Worlds 2 was announced at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase during Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2021, where it was slated for release on Windows and Xbox Series X/S as a console-exclusive.[15] At the time of announcement, the game had just entered full production, and the game's accompanying trailer broke the fourth wall by addressing the fact the studio did not have any gameplay or materials ready to be shown by then.[16] A full trailer unveiling gameplay and story details was presented at The Game Awards (TGA) in December 2024, which additionally confirmed a 2025 launch window, making it the second Obsidian-developed title to release that year following Avowed that February.[17] The game was also now slated to have a simultaneous multiplatform release, with a PlayStation 5 version planned to launch alongside the Xbox and PC releases.[18] The game was the subject of a special Direct presentation that aired immediately following the Xbox Games Showcase on June 8, 2025.[19]
It was made available to subscribers of select Xbox Game Pass plans on release day, including Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.[20]
The Outer Worlds 2 was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on October 29, 2025.[21][22][23] It was originally going to be the first title from Xbox Game Studios to launch at US$79.99, following Microsoft's commitment to the price point for new major releases going forward.[24][25] However, on July 23, 2025, the official Outer Worlds Twitter/X account announced that the game will now cost US$69.99, instead of the original price of US$79.99.[26]
The Outer Worlds 2 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[27][28][29]OpenCritic determined that 87% of critics recommended the game.[30] In Japan, four critics from Famitsu gave the game a total score of 33 out of 40.[33]
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