The Outer Worlds

The Outer Worlds is a 2019 action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Private Division. Set in an alternate future, the game takes place in Halcyon, a distant planetary system colonized by megacorporations. In the game, players assume control of a passenger from a lost colony ship, who is revived by a scientist and tasked with rescuing their fellow colonists and taking down the corporations responsible for the colony's impending doom. The game is played from a first-person perspective, and players can use combat, stealth, or dialog (persuasion, lying and intimidation) options when encountering potentially hostile non-player characters. Players can make numerous dialog decisions which influence the branching story. Led by Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, the creators of the Fallout series, the development of The Outer Worlds began in April 2016. Firefly, Futurama and Deadwood all inspired the game's world and characters. The team used striking color to depict its game world, and the team was influenced by the Art Nouveau style and the works of Alphonse Mucha and Moebius. The game was envisioned to be narrower in scope compared to other role-playing games although a number of locations and characters were still cut due to time and budget constraints, as well as the team's unfamiliarity with using the game's engine. It was announced in December 2018 and then released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in October 2019, with the Nintendo Switch port released in June 2020. Obsidian released two downloadable content packs, and a remastered version was released in March 2023 for PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S as The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition. The Outer Worlds has received generally positive reviews. Critics generally praised the game's writing, characters, freedom of choice, and art direction, though its combat was criticized for being bland. Many critics noted its similarity to the Fallout series. The Switch version was criticized for its technical issues. It was nominated for several end-of-year accolades, including Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2019. It was a commercial success, selling over four million units by August 2021, surpassing expectations. A sequel, The Outer Worlds 2, was released in 2025 by Obsidian and publisher Xbox Game Studios.