The Outer Worlds 2 game director says its writing has a 'less silly, darker tone' than the first game
In our Outer Worlds review back in 2019, we called Obsidian's sci-fi satire "a quirky romp across a solar system ruled by brutal corporations," but the zany ribbing about the excesses of corporate misconduct didn't land for everyone living in the world where the delivery drivers of major companies are pressured to pee in bottles to be able to make their quotas. In The Outer Worlds 2, Obsidian says that—while there'll still be plenty of humor—the writing will have a darker weight behind it.
In an interview with PC Gamer during SGF 2025, The Outer Worlds 2 game director Brandon Adler said that the first game's writing "could sometimes be one note," and that he wants the sequel to be able to hit more beats than just goofery.
"I want to give players something new from that, so they don't feel like 'Oh, we're just running through the same types of jokes, the same type of content, the same type of ideas and themes over and over again,'" Adler said.
In particular, Adler said The Outer Worlds 2's factions will be responsible for that sharper edge to the game's tone. Consider the authoritarian Protectorate faction, which Obsidian said in the Xbox Games Showcase was based on the question: "How much freedom will people give up for security and luxury?" Let's just say it's a topical idea. And then there's Auntie's Choice, a conglomerate of the first game's corporations that has "invaded Arcadia to liberate their resources for all of humanity—at a profit of course."
"They felt a little bumbling in the first game," Adler said. "In this game, I hope that they feel a lot more cutthroat and a little bit scarier to interact with."
That shift in attitude is, in part, a product of change in leadership. Tim Cain, one of the creators of the original Fallout, worked as one of two creative directors on the first Outer Worlds alongside fellow Fallout designer Leonard Boyarsky. After the first game's release, Cain went into pseudo-retirement, though he still contributed to The Outer Worlds 2 as a creative consultant, with Boyarsky working as the sequel's sole creative director.
"You'll notice that there's a little bit of a less silly, darker tone that comes out. That's mainly because of Leonard," Adler said. "That's his kind of vibe, and so he has more of a push on that stuff. And so I think even the overall story feels a little bit like a darker take on what's going on there."
Don't worry, though. That doesn't mean that humor will be hard to find in Outer Worlds 2.
"We still wanted to make sure that we had a lot of the same feeling as the first and so when players are interacting with the different factions, they also get to see that absurd humor that comes through," Adler said. "Hopefully it's a little bit less silly and a lot more absurd."
The Outer Worlds 2 launches on October 29, 2025.