Outer Worlds 2 confirms release date, platforms, factions, and more

Outer Worlds 2 is now confirmed for a release date of October 29, 2025 - going live on both Xbox and PC the same day. The bigger, better, and badder voyage to Obsidian's homebrew sci-fi world will not take place in Halcyon, but a new system called Arcadia. Not a lot of details about the continuity between the first and second game were given away, but the trailer revealed during the June 8 Xbox Games Showcase gives us a clue to the story.

It is, after all, labelled a story trailer, written "by and for capitalists" - but there's some gameplay hooks to chew on, too.

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The Outer Worlds 2 riffs on Dragon Age: Inquisition Rifts as its big gameplay hook

There's probably more time-travel shenanigans (Image via Obsidian Entertainment)

The Outer Worlds 2 canonizes the Secret Level episode on the game, confirming Auntie Cleo monopoly on the new mining planet (or planet system), Arcadia. In its usual self-referential parody fashion, the new figurehead of Auntie Cleo (if it's not a cover for a shadow faction) sets up the board in an oh-so-villanous monologue.

Auntie Cleo is not the big bad, though - the world-ending crisis this time around seems to be "Rifts that threaten the colonies". On the trailer, these appear as an off-brand reskin of Dragon Age: Inquisition Fade Rifts - although we don't necessarily know if it's a rift to another realm. Instead, they appear to bring some rather destructive potential, turning man into goo.

In any case, the trailer also confirms that the player is an Earth Directorate Agent, and thus might be a mediator in the same fashion as the Avowed protagonist. Another faction that was confirmed (as previously brought up by the Steam description of The Outer Worlds 2) is the Protectorate, which is harbouring a "brainwashing formula".

Other interesing tidbits included: Batman Arkham City-style explosive gel, a shrink-ray gun straight out of Futurama, and a status effect mechanic (or at least the ability to encase enemies in ice). In this coming months, we are going to see more of this, but this at least brings hope that elements from Avowed might get refined and refitted into The Outer Worlds 2.

Here's the full trailer:

As with all other games paraded around in the Xbox Games Showcase, The Outer Worlds 2 will be a day-one Game Pass title (same as Avowed).

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