Obsidian Leisure debuted its particular The Outer Worlds 2 Direct right this moment, revealing a planet-sized presentation stuffed with gameplay with new particulars about its 2025 sequel.
The 30-minute showcase gave gamers a tongue-in-cheek have a look at how Obsidian is constructing on the muse laid by its unique 2019 area journey RPG with tweaks to current mechanics in addition to utterly new gameplay options. It was additionally all hosted by comic and Sonic the Hedgehog film voice actor Ben Schwartz, who helped preserve The Outer Worlds 2 Direct going with loads of skits in between the nitty-gritty particulars.
From wacky new Flaws and planets to a recent perspective on participant selection, we’ve collected the entire highlights from right this moment’s The Outer Worlds 2 Direct and shared them under. Additionally, as introduced on the 2025 Xbox Video games Showcase, The Outer Worlds 2 now has a launch date of October 29, 2025. You may learn up on every thing introduced at that present right here.
Exploring House as an Earth Directorate Agent
Gamers are dropped into The Outer Worlds 2 as an Earth Directorate Agent. Obsidian describes these do-gooders as “area cowboys or area sky marshals” or “good guys that go in to locations and repair every thing that’s flawed.” The way you construct out your character and expertise from right here, although, is as much as you.
Filling out your character’s story means selecting issues like a Background and Traits, with the latter setting the muse for the way you strategy gameplay all through the story. You might be Sensible, Heroic, Modern, Fortunate – or Dumb, if that’s your factor.
There are additionally expertise, which have been refined this time round, and perks, that are closely impressed by the system utilized in Fallout: New Vegas. One instance of a perk proven through the Direct is Murderer, a capability that grants a motion bonus after a stealth kill.
Extra Weapons, Extra Alternative
The Outer Worlds 2 is about increasing the universe Obsidian created in 2019, and which means introducing huge enhancements to the gameplay throughout the board. There are extra weapons with extra distinctive animations to be discovered right here, with a lot of them proven off through the Direct.
It’s all very Borderlands, as some weapons carry distinctive traits. Rookie’s Reward is a good instance of what’s in retailer, as this firearm slowly ranges up with the participant because it’s used via the sport, celebrating every new degree with a confetti and fireworks present. There’s additionally the Pop-Up Gun, which distracts enemies with pop-up adverts projected by a pesky drone. One other spotlight is a music-infused sword that rewards gamers who smack enemies to the beat of a music.
A lot of this creativity was carried over into the brand new throwable instruments. Grenades, for instance, can set off a easy explosion, or gamers can use science grenades that droop foes with zero-gravity know-how.
As for motion, Obsidian says it’s revamped its strategy to exploration, too. Which means extra freedom to run, soar, slide, and parkour round Arcadia as they discover worthwhile loot. You’ll additionally be capable of reap the benefits of each first- and third-person views after the choice was absent from the unique sport.
Flaws Are Again and Higher (and Worse) Than Ever
One beloved parts from the unique The Outer Worlds had been Flaws, a function that gave gamers the choice to tackle unfavorable attributes in change for different perks. We acquired to see 4 Flaws as a part of right this moment’s presentation: Dangerous Knees, Kleptomaniac, Sungazer, and Overprepared.
Dangerous Knees provides gamers, properly, unhealthy knees, permitting them to maneuver faster in change for joints that pop (and alert enemies) when leaving the crouching place. Kleptomaniac grants larger promoting values for stolen gadgets whereas sometimes forcing gamers to nick some gadgets towards their will, whereas Sungazer causes everlasting imaginative and prescient injury in change for a daytime therapeutic passive and elevated weapon unfold. Overprepared is a Flaw for the sort of participant who’s all the time cautiously reloading, granting them elevated journal sizes with a penalty if a clip ever organically runs out of ammo.
Factions and Companions
To nobody’s shock, The Outer Worlds 2 is populated by a military of key factions and people to assist and halt your journey. The Protectorate, for instance, is described as an authoritarian group within the remoted colony of Arcadia.
“Their dictatorship is thematically based mostly across the query of how a lot freedom folks will hand over for safety and luxurious,” Obsidian describes. “For Protectorate topics, sadly, that reply is ‘every thing.’”
There’s additionally the Order of the Ascendant, an offshoot of the Order of Scientific Inquiry from the unique Outer Worlds that additionally has previous ties to The Protectorate. These main factions and extra have been made to have shut ties to the story and themes of The Outer Worlds 2, however they’ve additionally been made to be much more absurd as Obsidian aimed to broaden the humor. Moreover, gamers can anticipate to hearken to a Fallout: New Vegas-inspired radio system, which options stations from every main faction, with every carrying round 20 unique songs.
Factions have been fleshed out and improved for The Outer Worlds 2, and Obsidian says companions, of which there are six, have obtained the identical remedy. Niles, an Earth Directorate agent whose story might be formed by the participant’s motion, is the primary companion you’ll meet. At present’s Direct additionally showcased the “considerably cute” automech drone, who helps Niles, named Val, in addition to the lethal murderer and mathematician Marisol, the cultlist Aza, a fight medic who survived experimentation named Inez, and Tristan, a closely armored Protectorate arbiter.
The Bridge
Obsidian needs gamers to know that they’ve acquired choices in relation to how they select to expertise The Outer Worlds 2, and the most effective instance of participant selection is an early mission known as The Bridge. It’s all about discovering methods to decrease a bridge, with gamers in a position to take extra simple choices like convincing The Protectorate to decrease the bridge themselves, sneaking to the management room, and entering into weapons blazing.
Obsidian takes the choices a step additional, although, giving gamers the selection to make use of a protect that protects towards poison gasoline to get round harmful areas or soar boots that supply extra traversal choices. You may even sacrifice a companion with a purpose to acquire bridge clearance. That is the sort of freedom the group says gamers can anticipate from The Outer Worlds 2.
As right this moment’s Direct got here to a detailed, Obsidian shared its ideas on the sequel, saying, “The Outer Worlds 2 is absolutely the most important sport we’ve ever made.” As we transfer nearer to its newly introduced launch date, it’s straightforward to see why. For extra on The Outer Worlds 2, you may learn up on its October launch date announcement. You can too take a look at extra info on its value, which is confirmed to be $80, in addition to our speak with Obsidian’s Marcus Morgan at IGN Dwell.
Michael Cripe is a contract contributor with IGN. He is greatest recognized for his work at websites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Remember to give him a observe on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).