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Obsidian's The Outer Worlds 2 Underperformed, and There Won't Be a Third

Humdinger said:
One thing that will save Obsidian from the axe is their ability to generate content. They are putting out games at a pace that other MS studios aren't. And Xbox needs the material for GamePass. I think that will be their saving grace. They finish games and get them out the door. They aren't great, but they're Content for the machine.
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Maybe. Avowed started development in 2018 and OW2 started in 2019. I highly doubt MS is going to keep on funding these 6+ year niche money-losing single player RPGs just so they can have some Gamepass filler.

Maybe if they're lucky they will be able to convince rich daddy Phil to fund some Fallout project to capitalize on the show's success. Otherwise it's going to be less RPGs and more multiplayer open-world survival craft "early access for a year" type stuff.
 
DonkeyPunchJr said:
Maybe. Avowed started development in 2018 and OW2 started in 2019. I highly doubt MS is going to keep on funding these 6+ year niche money-losing single player RPGs just so they can have some Gamepass filler.

Maybe if they're lucky they will be able to convince rich daddy Phil to fund some Fallout project to capitalize on the show's success. Otherwise it's going to be less RPGs and more multiplayer open-world survival craft "early access for a year" type stuff.
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Yeah, maybe. It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future. But I do think they have a pretty good track record of getting stuff out the door -- as opposed to other MS studios, which flounder and seem to take forever. Of course, several of those studios have been shut down via cuts already, so if MS demands further cuts, there may be nowhere else to look than studios like Obsidian.
 
Ogbert said:
A pity.

Outer Worlds 2 was pretty good.
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I think it's tough to grab a big audience with a sequel, when the first game doesn't do that well. You pretty much have to hit it big the first time. The first OW had a mediocre reception, so the sequel wasn't going to attract new players based on buzz from the first game, and many of the people who did play the first game weren't interested in giving the second a chance.

I haven't played it myself, so I don't have an opinion one way or another on whether it's good. I'm just saying that when your first game gets a ho-hum reception, your sequel is going to have a tough road.
 
Love to see it. The more woke failures, the better. I am curious about how The Outer Worlds 2 compared sales wise to their other woke abomination Avowed. Hope Obsidian is the next activists infested studio to get Gommaged by MS.
 
Humdinger said:
The first OW had a mediocre reception, so the sequel wasn't going to attract new players based on buzz from the first game, and many of the people who did play the first game weren't interested in giving the second a chance.
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To add to this, it certainly didn't help that Microsoft kneecapped OW2 with negative press by announcing it as their first $80 game. They eventually backtracked but I imagine that announcement destroyed some people's interest in the game entirely.
 
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I can't remember the last time they made an actually good game I wanted to play. They're not terrible either, but they can't escape mediocrity for whatever reason.
 
I preferred Avowed. I played The Outer Worlds 2 on GamePass and it makes for a perfectly fine GamePass game. Not sure what they want for sales if a game comes out on GamePass. Looking forward to another Avowed game. I am perfectly fine with them moving on from The Outer Worlds. Neither game was that great or bad. Just ok.
 
Skifi28 said:
I can't remember the last time they made an actually good game I wanted to play. They're not terrible either, but they can't escape mediocrity for whatever reason.
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Because the games they make now are nothing like their old games. They are best known historically for RPGs. Then they also make some off shoot games like Grounded, Pentiment, Alpha Protocol, South Park etc.. They even made a tank game called Armored Warfare. But RPGs are the core games they are known for.

Old
SW
Neverwinter Nights 2
Fallout NV
Dungeon Siege 3
Pillars of Eternity 1/2

Recently
OW 1/2
Avowed

Very different style and tone of RPGs. Right off the bat, they dont even make isometric RPGs anymore.
 
LectureMaster said:
Gotta say goodbye to my man adam's fav character designs.

Peace Out GIF by asianhistorymonth


LWnKWqx.jpeg
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Looks like a group of Minnesota protestors.
 
Too big and too long in development to be economical profitable. They should have kept the scale of the first one but improve on it, like how they did it in part 2 with the combat and alternative quest solutions.
 
Please drag those Avowed 2 files over to the recycling bin too while you're at it please.

I'll say this about Obsidian's fate, I think it's worse than Raven's. At least they can say "we're making FPS maps for a very popular, competitive game". Obsidian has become the polar opposite of what made them great. Total inversion. What was once edgy and daring is now the literal hall monitor. Subjected to becoming a slop farm for Gamepass, knowing that if they weren't owned by MS they would have been closed years ago. Those games don't make clean profit. They only fly in MS's very optimistic Gamepass reporting. How many people would have paid $70 for Avowed or TOW2?
 
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Another failure, enough of the purple aura of defeat Obsidian. Now go and:

Give it a call to Chris Aveline, excuse your behavior first when all of you guys comndend him. Call Josh Sawyer and Feargus Urquhart.

Fire the entire art and character development department.

Then go beg at Bethesda's door for a New Vegas 2.
 
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It's time to leave the incessant self-aware writing in the past. Moreover, the zany characters 🤪. It's time to stop doing these in-studio over produced vidocs where it's more important to check boxes on staff race and have a cringe snarky guy "host" your studio. The needless $70 price tag shitstain on your sequel prior to release. Oh and the need you thought existed that people had to play a sequel to the Outer Worlds when YOU OWN OBSIDIAN AND FALLOUT.

There is so much wasted fucking time and money behind Microsoft gaming. And I will watch the season finale of Fallout tonight and not even have a 60 fps 1080p remaster of Fallout 3 or New Vegas WHICH STILL DONT EXIST ON A PS5.
 
It's been over a decade since obsidian put out anything above "meh". I'm just surprised people still care what they are doing at all.
 
Obsidian's best game is Grounded (+sequels). I hope they continue this series after the second. It's one of the most polished, atmospheric and believable survival crafting games out there. Top tier.
 
Fake said:
Look at those strong brave women and a dinossaur at the middle.
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Dude, there's no way the second from the left is a woman. """She""" looks like Jez Corden in a wig lol. Also, I legit wouldn't be surprised if only like two of them could tell the difference between an Xbox Series X and a PS1.
 
StreetsofBeige said:
Looks like Obsidian has a knack for getting a sequel out of games. Grounded 1/2, OW 1/2, and looks like Avowed will have a sequel.

Obsidian of old (going by their games history) seems much different than now. Makes sense since those old games could be 20 years ago.

But going by the studio's recent games, they seem more atune making quirky kinds of games... Grounded, Pentiment, and if anyone likes really colourful or cheesy kinds of RPG with female characters who all look like guys. Very different tone than their old games.

So it comes down to if any gamer likes odd kinds of games. Some will and they'll probably like them. But gamers looking for more traditional games or is hoping for a game similar to Fallout Vegas will be disappointment.
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Avowed 2 will not happen, the game flopped just like the outer worlds 2.
 
I mean, I'm not really shocked. I'd still give Outer Worlds 2 a chance when I get the chance as it does look a lot better then the first game. I hope they just work on Pillars Of Eternity 3.

I don't know how anyone ever thought this team was better then Bethesda. They got their chance on several new IP and flopped a whole lot of them...
 
EDMIX said:
I don't know how anyone ever thought this team was better then Bethesda. They got their chance on several new IP and flopped a whole lot of them...
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Immersive writing vs vehicular writing.

Fans of immersive writing cannot enjoy Bethesda games. Obsidian is automatically better in that case.
 
Pricing and lack of iconic character(s) really ruined it for me. Haven't gotten around to playing it but the motivation or incentive wasn't there for me.

Looks too much like a lesser New Vegas, reskin.
 
I was surprised there was even The Outer Worlds 2 honestly. The first game I thought wasn't that remarkable, didn't finish it as a result. Also had the impression that it had a somewhat small group of people that liked it. A shame though, I love sci-fi and would like more of these types of games. Still waiting on a deep sale to try out The Outer Worlds 2, or if it ever comes to PS Plus.
 
Humdinger said:
Btw, someone please tell me that photo is just of their special hires, their art department, a photo from "Women are Wonderful" Day or something? Please don't tell me it's a representative photo of the entire studio.
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Of course it's not representative, but let's not use logic where we can have THE OUTRAGE.
 
KanKamAndNob said:
Love to see it. The more woke failures, the better. I am curious about how The Outer Worlds 2 compared sales wise to their other woke abomination Avowed. Hope Obsidian is the next activists infested studio to get Gommaged by MS.
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You do know that every western studio is full of them? It's literally the only type of people that survived the culling. It will take YEARS for the industry to heal and change.

I'm talking an entire world shift and then waiting for those people to go through college.

If you are wanting to not fund WOKE games then don't buy pretty much ANYTHING developed in the UK or US.
 
I actually enjoyed Outer Worlds 2 and was hoping for some DLC at last. Same for Avowed, which I found even better than OW2. Avowed especially has a lot of potential. It feels as though there was a lot of unwarranted negativity in regards to those games. Sure, there could be some improvements (character design, romances) but they're solid games. I really hope they don't turn Obsidian into a Grounded 2 only studio. They need to keep making singleplayer RPGs.
 
Sohurmk833 said:
Who cares at this point? Obsidian has pretty much went the same way as Bioware, Bethesda and all the other western devs. Just producing uninspired slop that comes and goes barely noticed.
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Fantastic answer, lol. Who cares? There are lot of people who enjoyed Avowed from what i know.
 
Neolombax said:
I was surprised there was even The Outer Worlds 2 honestly. The first game I thought wasn't that remarkable, didn't finish it as a result. Also had the impression that it had a somewhat small group of people that liked it. A shame though, I love sci-fi and would like more of these types of games. Still waiting on a deep sale to try out The Outer Worlds 2, or if it ever comes to PS Plus.
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Yeah, i've never seen anyone ask for a sequel to Outer Worlds. It was an average game that people played as a placeholder for Starfield before it released. The fact that Starfield kinda sucked too probably didn't do the demand for OW2 any favors either.

Hearing more positive praise for it lately though, so maybe i'll try it someday if i can get it cheap.
 
Avowed and tow2 weren't complete shit in all aspects but the writing and companion are no good at all.
 
I wonder how profitable games like Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny were for them. I assume that whilst they are still very complex games from a story telling and systems perspective, they are cheaper to make. This could be a good opportunity for them to go and make another game like that if they require a lower budget.
 
Lucifers Beard said:
I wonder how profitable games like Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny were for them. I assume that whilst they are still very complex games from a story telling and systems perspective, they are cheaper to make. This could be a good opportunity for them to go and make another game like that if they require a lower budget.
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Pillars 1 made good money. However I think people are mixed on it due to poor sales of 2.

I didn't play much of tyranny but seems like it was half a game.
 
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