The highly-anticipated release of Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed is just around the corner, but that didn’t stop the studio from working on other projects in the meantime, including one that got a surprising reveal at The Game Awards 2024. With one of the more humorous trailers of the night, Obsidian revealed that The Outer Worlds 2, which had been rumored to exist but had yet to be officially confirmed, would be arriving in late 2025. Together with the upcoming release of Avowed, the launch window for The Outer Wilds 2 positions Obsidian Entertainment to have an incredibly busy 2025, bookending the year with two major releases.
It’s an exciting time for both Obsidian Entertainment and its fans, with the studio having built a strong reputation for writing and quest design through its impressive and varied back catalog. The original Outer Worlds was a well-received game from both critics and players that harkened back to the gallows humor and interesting science fiction elements of Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas, and the reveal trailer for its sequel seems to suggest that players are in for a similarly good time with the sequel. Together with Avowed, which has already been garnering plenty of praise from its preview build, The Outer Worlds 2 could make 2025 Obsidian’s year.
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Avowed Starts Off 2025 With a Bang for Obsidian
After originally planning for a 2024 release, Obsidian’s Avowed suffered a string of delays before finally landing on its February 18, 2025 release date. It’s a highly competitive launch window, with games like Monster Hunter Wilds, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Civilization 7, and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii all releasing in close proximity. But one thing that Avowed has that its competitors do not is Obsidian’s trademark writing, quest design, and deep RPG systems, delivering what’s shaping up to be one of the strongest role-playing experiences in quite some time, if the recent preview coverage is a reliable indicator.
The release of Avowed will also mark the first game launch from Obsidian since 2022’s critically acclaimed historical adventure game Pentiment. Notably, Pentiment‘s release came just ahead of the studio’s 20th anniversary (with Obsidian originally founded in 2003), and Avowed sees the studio return to the same universe from its Pillars of Eternity series. In many ways, the release of Avowed is something of a homecoming for Obsidian, and that it’s one of the year’s first major AAA releases is a sign of the studio potentially having a strong 2025.
The Outer Worlds 2 Stands to Be Obsidian’s Victory Lap for 2025
While Avowed‘s firm release date has been known for quite some time, what was totally unknown was when players could expect The Outer Worlds 2. Originally released in 2020, the first Outer Worlds was a moderately successful RPG that tapped into many of the gameplay elements and tone of Obsidian’s work on Fallout: New Vegas, albeit in a pulpy sci-fi setting. The existence of The Outer Worlds 2 had previously been leaked, but the official reveal of the sequel at The Game Awards 2024 positions it for a “late 2025” release.
After starting 2025 with Avowed, it now appears that Obsidian will close things out with The Outer Worlds 2, releasing potentially not one but two successful RPGs in a single year. It’s a sort of “victory lap” for Obsidian, which has seen its fair share of ups and downs throughout its 22-year history but has now carved out a specific niche within the RPG genre with plenty of die-hard fans. At a time when RPGs from major studios like Bethesda and CD Projekt RED are still several years off, Obsidian’s one-two punch of Avowed and The Outer Wilds 2 in 2025 couldn’t have been better timed.
- Franchise
- Pillars of Eternity
- Released
- February 18, 2025
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence