Obsidian Entertainment debuted its special The Outer Worlds 2 Direct today, revealing a planet-sized presentation full of gameplay with new details about its 2025 sequel.
The 30-minute showcase gave players a tongue-in-cheek look at how Obsidian is building on the foundation laid by its original 2019 space adventure RPG with tweaks to existing mechanics as well as completely new gameplay features. It was also all hosted by comedian and Sonic the Hedgehog movie voice actor Ben Schwartz, who helped keep The Outer Worlds 2 Direct going with plenty of skits in between the nitty-gritty details.
From wacky new Flaws and planets to a fresh perspective on player choice, we’ve collected all of the highlights from today’s The Outer Worlds 2 Direct and shared them below. Also, as announced at the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase, The Outer Worlds 2 now has a release date of October 29, 2025. You can read up on everything announced at that show here.
Exploring Space as an Earth Directorate Agent
Players are dropped into The Outer Worlds 2 as an Earth Directorate Agent. Obsidian describes these do-gooders as “space cowboys or space sky marshals” or “good guys that go in to places and fix everything that’s wrong.” How you build out your character and experience from here, though, is up to you.
Filling out your character’s story means choosing things like a Background and Traits, with the latter setting the foundation for how you approach gameplay throughout the story. You can be Brilliant, Heroic, Innovative, Lucky – or Dumb, if that’s your thing.
There are also skills, which have been refined this time around, and perks, which are heavily inspired by the system used in Fallout: New Vegas. One example of a perk shown during the Direct is Assassin, an ability that grants a movement bonus after a stealth kill.
More Guns, More Choice
The Outer Worlds 2 is about expanding the universe Obsidian created in 2019, and that means introducing vast improvements to the gameplay across the board. There are more guns with more unique animations to be found here, with many of them shown off during the Direct.
It’s all very Borderlands, as some weapons carry unique traits. Rookie’s Reward is a great example of what’s in store, as this firearm slowly levels up with the player as it’s used through the game, celebrating each new level with a confetti and fireworks show. There’s also the Pop-Up Gun, which distracts enemies with pop-up ads projected by a pesky drone. Another highlight is a music-infused sword that rewards players who smack enemies to the beat of a song.
Much of this creativity was carried over into the new throwable tools. Grenades, for example, can trigger a simple explosion, or players can use science grenades that suspend foes with zero-gravity technology.
As for movement, Obsidian says it’s revamped its approach to exploration, too. That means more freedom to run, jump, slide, and parkour around Arcadia as they find valuable loot. You’ll also be able to take advantage of both first- and third-person perspectives after the option was absent from the original game.
Flaws Are Back and Better (and Worse) Than Ever
One beloved elements from the original The Outer Worlds were Flaws, a feature that gave players the option to take on negative attributes in exchange for other perks. We got to see four Flaws as part of today’s presentation: Bad Knees, Kleptomaniac, Sungazer, and Overprepared.
Bad Knees gives players, well, bad knees, allowing them to move quicker in exchange for joints that pop (and alert enemies) when leaving the crouching position. Kleptomaniac grants higher selling values for stolen items while occasionally forcing players to nick some items against their will, while Sungazer causes permanent vision damage in exchange for a daytime healing passive and increased weapon spread. Overprepared is a Flaw for the kind of player who is always cautiously reloading, granting them increased magazine sizes with a penalty if a clip ever organically runs out of ammo.
Factions and Companions
To no one’s surprise, The Outer Worlds 2 is populated by an army of key factions and individuals to help and halt your journey. The Protectorate, for example, is described as an authoritarian group in the isolated colony of Arcadia.
“Their dictatorship is thematically based around the question of how much freedom people will give up for security and luxury,” Obsidian describes. “For Protectorate subjects, unfortunately, that answer is ‘everything.’”
There’s also the Order of the Ascendant, an offshoot of the Order of Scientific Inquiry from the original Outer Worlds that also has past ties to The Protectorate. These major factions and more have been made to have close ties to the story and themes of The Outer Worlds 2, but they’ve also been made to be even more absurd as Obsidian aimed to expand the humor. Additionally, players can expect to listen to a Fallout: New Vegas-inspired radio system, which features stations from each major faction, with each carrying around 20 original songs.
Factions have been fleshed out and improved for The Outer Worlds 2, and Obsidian says companions, of which there are six, have received the same treatment. Niles, an Earth Directorate agent whose story can be shaped by the player’s action, is the first companion you’ll meet. Today’s Direct also showcased the “somewhat cute” automech drone, who helps Niles, named Val, as well as the deadly assassin and mathematician Marisol, the cultlist Aza, a combat medic who survived experimentation named Inez, and Tristan, a heavily armored Protectorate arbiter.
The Bridge
Obsidian wants players to know that they’ve got options when it comes to how they choose to experience The Outer Worlds 2, and the best example of player choice is an early mission called The Bridge. It’s all about finding ways to lower a bridge, with players able to take more straightforward options like convincing The Protectorate to lower the bridge themselves, sneaking to the control room, and going in guns blazing.
Obsidian takes the options a step further, though, giving players the choice to use a shield that protects against poison gas to get around dangerous areas or jump boots that offer more traversal options. You can even sacrifice a companion in order to gain bridge clearance. This is the kind of freedom the team says players can expect from The Outer Worlds 2.
As today’s Direct came to a close, Obsidian shared its thoughts on the sequel, saying, “The Outer Worlds 2 is really the biggest game we’ve ever made.” As we move closer to its newly announced release date, it’s easy to see why. For more on The Outer Worlds 2, you can read up on its October release date announcement. You can also check out more information on its price, which is confirmed to be $80, as well as our talk with Obsidian’s Marcus Morgan at IGN Live.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
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