The Outer Worlds 2 offers a whole new colony to explore. Become friendly with new factions, crush them completely under your very sleek boots, or ignore them completely because you got lost in side quests.

In The Outer Worlds 2 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.

Are the rifts the only thing threatening Arcadia? Of course not! That would be too easy. A factional war between the “benevolent rulers” known as the Protectorate, a rebellious scientific religious order, and a corporate mega power has the colony torn apart. Each is trying to close or control the rifts for their own good/monetarily profitable needs. Church, state, and capitalism! Who will win?! Well, that’s really up to you. This is your game.

When it comes to crafting your commander, it is full-on “RPG with RPG elements” time from ability points to skill checks in conversations, to even how flawed you want to be because, let’s admit it, no one is perfect. Except those who think they are. Look at you go. Being perfect.

How you build your commander and chart your way through the narrative is uniquely yours as you plunge into this player-driven story. Whether you’re a disciple of diplomacy, a smart strategist, a crusader of chaos, or defiantly different (so we can keep the alliterations), the choice – you guessed it – is yours. Oh, and with this being The Outer Worlds, yes, you can dumb!

In the above The Outer Worlds 2 gameplay, we get a closer look at The Outer Worlds 2 – Obsidian’s signature satire and storytelling cranked to eleven. From branching chaos to faction-fueled futures, everything unfolds across Arcadia: a lawless new frontier where your choices cut deeper, the stakes hit harder, and the corporations somehow got even worse. Bigger choices, weirder science, stranger weapons, and even worse decisions.

Cut off from Earth, Arcadia is a colony cracking under pressure, torn apart by space-time rifts, shifting alliances, and three power-hungry factions locked in a war for control. It’s louder, riskier, and more unpredictable than anything the Halcyon system ever threw at you.

You’ve been sent in as an Earth Directorate agent, but how you handle the mission – who you help, hinder, or exploit – is entirely your call. Build your character with expanded traits, flaws, and backgrounds that shape every decision and unlock new ways to fight, sneak, talk, or blow things up.

Arcadia isn’t just bigger. It’s meaner, messier, and more reactive than ever. The only thing standing between it and total collapse? You. Probably.

Pick a Side. Or Don’t.

At the heart of The Outer Worlds 2 are three factions with fundamentally opposing visions of what humanity should be:

• The Protectorate: A military regime powered by endless resources that believes people are happiest when they don’t have to think for themselves. Order is peace. Obedience is comfort. Truly loved by all loyal citizens – just ask them.
• Auntie’s Choice: The loud, smiling merger of Auntie Cleo’s and Spacer’s Choice. They promise freedom, fulfillment, and a future where your only real choice is which Auntie’s product you’ll need next.
• The Order of the Ascendant: Rogue scientists turned faith-based futurists, determined to perfect humanity by solving the Universal Equation. They worship patterns, predict the future through math, and perform rituals in labs with terrifying precision all in service of a better tomorrow.

Each faction has its own areas, followers, audio design, and propaganda. You’ll see the war in real-time as towns change hands, radio stations shift tone, and the world responds to your choices.

And thanks to Arcadia’s ever-present radio system, you won’t just hear the news – you’ll be the news. Your decisions are retold with spin, bias, and cheery jingles tailored to each faction’s agenda. One station might call you a folk hero. Another might name you public enemy number one. All of them think you should try their new line of health tonics.

Build Your Hero (or Disaster)

RPG systems have been reimagined for this sequel to give players more freedom and more flavor. For example, Traits and flaws dynamically evolve based on how you play. Steal enough and you’ll be offered Kleptomaniac, which boosts loot sales but risks auto-theft when you so much as glance at an item. 

Science weapons and armor return in full force. The Shrink Ray is back – only now, you can crush enemies underfoot once they’re bite-sized. And yes, there’s a suit of armor made from something that used to be alive. His name is Gary. 

Movement and combat also feel better across the board. Dash, leap, and parkour your way through Arcadia, or switch to third person and marvel at how cool you look while doing it. 

Your Crew, Your Consequences

You’ll travel with six companions, each with personal stakes in the colony’s future – and their own opinions on what you’re doing.

One might beg you to spare a faction leader. Another might ask you to murder an entire town. Sacrificing a companion could help you survive a key moment, but lock you out of their questline – and you’ll hear about it. On the radio. From the faction you just betrayed.

These aren’t just followers. They’re allies, wild cards, and occasional liabilities who breathe fire (literally). And each one brings something different to the table:

• Niles: Another Earth Directorate recruit torn between duty and defection.
• Inez: A former experiment from Auntie’s Choice with a grafted combat edge and a moral core.
• Aza: A chaos-loving Rift worshipper with a taste for violence and room to grow – maybe.
• Marisol: A stoic killer from the Order of the Ascendant with calculations to settle.
• Tristen: A walking tank and judge from the Protectorate, looking to dispense justice – or redefine it.
• Valerie: A floating, chirping support unit with unexpected upgrades and untapped potential.

While The Outer Worlds 2 is a single-player RPG, you won’t be alone! Not virtually anyway. Enlist a crew of companions to help you achieve your goals. Nothing says “middle management” more than sending people out to fight your fights for you, then having them judge everything you do with a visual reminder of how much they loved or hated it. Maybe you’ll help them fulfill their dreams or goals along the way. Clearly you care enough about the people working with you to see their dreams realized… right?

The Outer Worlds 2 is coming to Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam), and PS5 on October 29, 2025. It will also be available on day one with Game Pass.