The Outer Worlds

The Outer Worlds is a 2019 action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Private Division. Directed by Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky—the legendary original creators of the Fallout franchise—the game serves as a spiritual successor to Fallout: New Vegas, translating its beloved brand of deep, choice-driven RPG mechanics into a brand-new, brightly colored sci-fi setting.

The story takes place in the distant future within the Halcyon system, a remote star colony completely owned and operated by a cartel of hyper-capitalist megacorporations collectively known as “The Board.” You play as a colonist who was frozen aboard the Hope, a colony ship that was lost in transit for 70 years. You are unexpectedly thawed out by a rogue, eccentric scientist named Phineas Welles, who drops you onto the fringes of the colony to help him secure the resources needed to save the rest of the frozen colonists. From there, the narrative opens up entirely: you can choose to help Welles dismantle the oppressive corporate regime, betray him to become a ruthless corporate enforcer for The Board, or carve your own path through the system’s various warring factions.

Gameplay

The Outer Worlds plays as a first-person, narrative-heavy RPG. While it features robust shooting and melee combat, it heavily emphasizes player choice, allowing almost any situation to be resolved through violence, stealth, or smooth-talking.

Key gameplay mechanics include:

• Tactical Time Dilation (TTD): As a side effect of being frozen for 70 years, the player character perceives time differently. TTD allows you to dramatically slow down time during combat to analyze enemies, read their stats, and target specific body parts to inflict crippling status effects (like blinding them with a headshot or crippling their legs).
• Deep Dialogue and Skill Checks: The game shines in its dialogue system. Investing points into skills like Persuade, Lie, Intimidate, Science, and Medicine unlocks unique dialogue options that can bypass entire firefights, extort NPCs for extra money, or convince enemies to stand down.
• The Flaw System: A highly unique twist on traditional RPG perks. As you play, the game tracks what is hurting you. If you take too much damage from hostile alien raptidons, the game will offer you the “Raptiphobia” flaw. Accepting the flaw permanently lowers your stats when fighting raptidons, but immediately grants you an extra perk point to spend elsewhere, forcing players to weigh the cost of their character’s psychological trauma.
• Companions: You can recruit up to six unique companions to join your crew aboard your personal starship, the Unreliable. You can bring two companions with you at a time. They interject in conversations, have their own dedicated loyalty questlines, boost your base stats, and feature highly cinematic, devastating special combat attacks.
• Science Weapons: Hidden across the colony are bizarre, highly experimental “Science Weapons.” These include a Shrink Ray that physically miniaturizes enemies, a Mandibular Rearranger that freezes enemies with giant, cartoonish smiles, and a Mind Control Ray.

Development and Legacy

Announced at The Game Awards 2018, The Outer Worlds was highly anticipated, especially by fans who were dissatisfied with the multiplayer direction of Bethesda’s Fallout 76 at the time. Obsidian actively leaned into this, marketing the game with the tagline, “From the original creators of Fallout and the developers of Fallout: New Vegas.”

Upon its release in October 2019, the game was a massive critical and commercial success. Reviewers praised its sharp, satirical writing, incredibly vibrant art style, and the sheer amount of agency granted to the player. However, some critics noted that the combat felt slightly repetitive and that the game’s scope was much smaller and more contained than a traditional massive open-world RPG (opting instead for smaller, hub-based planetary zones).

Obsidian supported the game with two major story expansions: Peril on Gorgon (2020) and Murder on Eridanos (2021), both of which were highly praised for adding deep, pulp-sci-fi mysteries to the universe. In 2023, Private Division released The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition, a comprehensive remaster for current-gen consoles that bundled the DLCs and significantly overhauled the graphics and level cap, though it suffered from initial performance issues at launch.

Following Microsoft’s acquisition of Obsidian Entertainment, a direct sequel, The Outer Worlds 2, was officially announced for the Xbox ecosystem.

Key Features:

• Corporate Dystopia — Explore the Halcyon colony, a beautifully vibrant but fiercely oppressive star system where every aspect of life is governed by soulless corporate bureaucracy and branding.
• Play Your Way — Build a character exactly how you want. Be a charming sociopath, a stealthy sniper, a hammer-wielding brute, or a “dumb” character with uniquely hilarious, low-intelligence dialogue options.
• The Flaw System — Customize your build through your failures, voluntarily accepting permanent phobias and debuffs in exchange for immediate character perks.
• A Faithful Crew — Recruit a diverse cast of companions, manage their equipment, and help them resolve their deeply personal loyalty missions.
• Tactical Time Dilation — Turn the tide of chaotic firefights by manipulating time to cripplingly target enemy weak points in slow-motion.

Release Platforms:

• PlayStation 4 — October 25, 2019
• Xbox One — October 25, 2019
• Microsoft Windows (PC) — October 25, 2019
• Nintendo Switch — June 5, 2020
• PlayStation 5 / Xbox Series X/S (Spacer’s Choice Edition) — March 7, 2023