Obsidian Entertainment's satirical sci-fi video game, "The Outer Worlds," launched back in 2019, and now, thanks to The Game Awards, we finally got a look at the gameplay of the follow-up, "The Outer Worlds 2".
The Outer Worlds takes place in the colonized six-planet solar system of Halcyon and offers a dark, dystopian take on humankind's expansion as a multi-planetary species in the year 2355 and the true costs of bureaucratic outer space endeavors.
This popular first-person shooter with an attitude was offered for PS4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch, offering a blank-slate playable character simply called The Stranger. You awaken from suspended animation eager to begin a fresh life beyond your home planet only to discover that via some corporate error, your fellow settlers will not be joining you and that bright future you'd been dreaming of in hypersleep has now become a nightmare.
Now a new trailer for the sequel, "The Outer Worlds 2," just blasted into our orbit at last week's The Game Awards 2024 and it's stuffed like a Christmas goose with all sorts of sarcastic humor and a classic rock anthem from Bachman Turner Overdrive, "You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet."
We don't have a firm release date yet, but according to the announcement "The Outer Worlds 2" is due for release on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Steam, and Game Pass in 2025. it's definitely one of our most anticipated upcoming space games for 2025, so stick with us for more news and trailers when they drop.
Here's the official description:
"The call to go beyond the stars is here once again, and it's bigger, bolder, and more unpredictable than ever. We just revealed a first gameplay trailer for 'The Outer Worlds 2' during The Game Awards 2024, promising a fresh adventure in a brand-new colony next year. No really, we know we're not supposed to promise things in marketing, but the setting is completely new, so this is all factual. Just don’t break the colony again. We're looking at each of you who sent the Hope into the sun in the last game.
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"In true Obsidian Entertainment fashion, you carve your path through Arcadia, a colony teeming with factions, intrigue, and chaos. It's also home of skip drive technology and where the fate of the entire colony – and the galaxy – rests. As a daring, undeniably good-looking, and questionably competent Earth Directorate agent, you're tasked with uncovering the source of devastating rifts threatening the entire galaxy. Talk about stakes (not to be confused with raptidon steaks, those are very different)! The choice of how to deal with the rifts is up to you. 'Your worlds, your way,' as we say at Obsidian."
"The Outer Worlds 2" is also getting additional attention this week in the form of a December 17 episode of Prime Video's video game anthology series, "Secret Level," with an original story set between "The Outer Worlds" and "The Outer Worlds 2."
Obsidian's "The Outer Worlds 2" and its barbed humor is slated to hit the marketplace in 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Steam, and PlayStation 5. While you're waiting, be sure to check out our list of the best space games in the galaxy... OK fine, you got us, we've only checked Earth, but the lineup is still amazing.
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Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.