When Obsidian Entertainment released The Outer Worlds, it marked a turning point for the company. After years dedicated to crafting smaller games, the team in Irvine finally unleashed a AAA first-person RPG, their first since 2010’s iconic Fallout: New Vegas. While it wasn’t the long-awaited sequel to Fallout New Vegas that fans had clamored for, The Outer Worlds still echoed the essence of the Fallout series. Infused with dark humor, intense violence, and player-driven choices, it encapsulated the spirit of many past Obsidian creations. Despite facing a few critiques online, the game emerged as a major success story, both critically and in sales.
Fast forward over five years, and Obsidian is now on the cusp of unveiling their next ambitious RPG, Avowed. Scheduled for release in February 2025 on Xbox Series X/S and Windows PC, this fantasy-themed first-person RPG promises an exhilarating blend of firearms and sorcery. Though Avowed and The Outer Worlds might share a similar scale, they diverge greatly in terms of setting and combat. There’s still potential for The Outer Worlds to carve an even more distinct path if Obsidian decides to shift its direction away from that of Avowed.
Avowed might seem like an entirely new intellectual property at first glance. For those who’ve seen the game’s screenshots without context, it might appear to be a standalone adventure. But dig a little deeper, and it’s revealed as a spin-off from the Pillars of Eternity series, a creation also born from Obsidian’s inventive minds.
Pillars of Eternity, while perhaps not as universally recognizable as The Elder Scrolls or Fallout, still holds a respectable place within the gaming community. Consisting of just two games—Pillars of Eternity and its sequel, Deadfire—these titles rolled out in the mid-2010s as isometric CRPGs rich with real-time, pause-ready combat, drawing heavy inspiration from legendary games like Baldur’s Gate. Although both were critically acclaimed, they didn’t achieve the commercial heights of earlier Obsidian releases, possibly due to their niche appeal. With Avowed, Obsidian shifts gears, opting for a first-person perspective to broaden its reach and attract fans of titles like Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds.
Given the resurgence in popularity for CRPGs highlighted by the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, Obsidian might benefit from returning to that genre. Instead of crafting another addition to the Pillars of Eternity narrative, there’s an enticing opportunity to create an isometric RPG set in The Outer Worlds universe. With today’s robust appetite for choice-driven, isometric adventures, a strategic pivot from Avowed’s first-person gameplay might be a wise move. Such a spin-off could satiate fans longing for the classic Fallout-style RPGs if executed with care.
Part of what makes The Outer Worlds stand out is its rich storytelling backdrop, where players navigate the far reaches of space, encountering factions each hungry for dominance. Here, every player choice impacts the fate of the Halcyon colony, positioning players as the wild card in a corporate-led universe.
Welcome to the future—where your actions just might change everything.
