The Outer Worlds 2 sounds like it's not getting a follow-up any time soon, but Obsidian plan to give Avowed some wacky cousins

Despite the marketing bluster, the studio are admit releasing three games in 2025 was "the result of things going wrong"

Despite any PR babble you might have heard about 2025 being the "Year of Obsidian", the studio have admitted that putting out three games in the course of 12 months isn't something they're keen to do again. Sadly, two of those games - mushroom-encusted RPG Avowed and space capitalism-encusted RPG The Outer Worlds 2 - haven't managed to hit the sales targets corporate overlords Microsoft assigned them. As it stands, Obsidian say they're keen to do more in the fantasy world of Eora, but aren't working on an Outer Worlds 3.

As reported by Bloomberg blogger Jason Schreier, Obsidian boss Feargus Urquhart said the two RPGs landing below those marks have left the studio to "think a lot about how much we put into the games, how much we spend on them, how long they take". The latter already looks to have been decided, with Obsidian hoping development timescales can be sliced down from the six years both Avowed and The Outer Worlds took to a leaner three or four.

Not having them all of the games come out in close proximity's also a goal. "Spacing those releases helps the company manage its resources and not burn everybody out,” studio design director Josh Sawyer admitted. "It’s not good to release three games in the same year. It’s the result of things going wrong."

As for where Obsidian have landed following a year of putting out big RPGs with Grounded 2 sandwiched between them, the answer is a next few years in which they plan to focus on unspecified new games, plus additions for both The Outer Worlds 2 and Grounded 2.

As of writing, Bloomberg report that the studio explicitly plan to keep making games in the Awowed/Pillars of Eternity universe of Eora going forwards. Things seem more murky when it comes to the future of The Outer Worlds series, with the report simply saying Obsidian aren't working on a third Outer Worlds. I've reached out to Obsidian to double check whether that's confirmation the studio aren't planning on ever making a third Outer Worlds, or just that they aren't in the process of doing so right this second.

Personally, I'll be a tad disappointed if this does turn out to be the end of the road for The Outer Worlds series, at least for now. As much as I liked Avowed more than The Outer Worlds 2, I do still think there's potential for Obsidian's advertising jingle-filled interpretation of the cosmos to deliver something special if it were to get another entry, regardless of whether that something ends up being New Vegasy or excellent in its own way.