Veteran role-playing recreation maker Obsidian Leisure has no plans to proceed The Outer Worlds with a third recreation, the studio has confirmed.
As a part of a Bloomberg interview, Obsidian revealed that final 12 months’s The Outer Worlds 2 had underperformed, and a sequel will not be in growth. Avowed, the corporate’s different blockbuster RPG launched final 12 months, additionally missed its targets — however Obsidian reportedly nonetheless has plans for extra from its world of Eora, the identical setting as Pillars of Eternity.
On a extra constructive be aware, Grounded 2 — one more 2025 launch — was a hit. However of the three, it had the shortest (and virtually definitely the most affordable) growth interval by far. Grounded 2 took simply over two years to fulfill its early entry launch, in comparison with the greater than six years required for each Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2.
In 2025, Xbox trumpeted the truth that Obsidian was about to launch three video games in simply eight months, with Avowed hitting in February, Grounded 2 launching in early entry in July, and The Outer Worlds 2 arriving in October. However the effort was “the results of issues going fallacious,” studio design director Josh Sawyer has now mentioned — and one thing that’s unlikely to be repeated.
“Spacing these releases helps the corporate handle its sources and not burn all people out,” Sawyer instructed Bloomberg. “It isn’t good to launch three video games in the identical 12 months. It is the results of issues going fallacious.”
Famously, Avowed started life as a multiplayer recreation with ambitions to be a cross between The Elder Scrolls and Future, earlier than its on-line co-op was stripped out and the challenge was rebooted. It then took a whereas to regular the ship, although the arrival of Carrie Patel as its director noticed the sport on a smoother path — albeit some three years into the challenge.
As for The Outer Worlds 2’s extended growth, Bloomberg’s report merely states that the challenge was made tougher by the pandemic and technical challenges. Now, Obsidian’s focus is reportedly fastened on guaranteeing video games could be made on shorter growth timelines, with releases extra spaced out, and with as beneficiant a revenue margin from Microsoft as they’ll get away withmuster.
“I do not assume anyone actually likes five-, six-, seven-year dev cycles,” famous Brandon Adler, who served as director on The Outer Worlds 2. “We have sort of grown into that.”
Referencing Microsoft’s eye-opening 30% profit-margin goal for some Xbox studios, Obsidian boss Feargus Urquhart mentioned he hoped the corporate nonetheless continued to fund riskier initiatives and accepted that “possibly the place we’re going to be from a profitability standpoint is not going to be 30%.”
Obsidian is but to announce its subsequent challenge, following 2025’s exhaustive launch schedule. Work on Grounded 2 continues, after all, and it feels like Eora can be returned to. (Avowed can even launch for PlayStation 5 later this month.) As for what else is perhaps within the pipeline, time will inform.
“I do know everybody on the web, on each recreation we ever announce, will consistently reference again to, ‘When’s the following New Vegas?'” Obsidian’s VP of operations Marcus Morgan mentioned final 12 months, referencing the studio’s beloved Fallout recreation that is served because the inspiration for the hit Amazon TV sequence’ second season setting. Nicely, it is a good query.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s Information Editor. You may attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social