From the outside, it looked like Obsidian Entertainment was on track to have a stellar 2025, launching no less than three titles: Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, and an early access version of Grounded 2. However, after what seemed to be less-than-stellar sales figures for the first two, the studio’s head honcho, Feargus Urquhart, seemed to have second thoughts about cramming so much into such a short timeframe.
Reflecting on the past year in an interview with Bloomberg, Urquhart noted, “They’re not disasters. I’m not going to say this was a kick in the teeth. It was more like: ‘That sucks. What are we learning?’” Even so, Grounded 2 shone brightly amidst the rest, smashing records from its predecessor on Steam and racking up three million players in just two weeks. This success pushed Obsidian to reconsider their development strategies, particularly how long games take and the resources they require.
Interestingly, Urquhart mentioned that both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 consumed a lot of time and effort, each taking around six years to develop. Moving forward, he expressed a desire to trim that timeline, aiming for something more manageable, around three to four years per title. The aim is to stagger releases better, avoiding the burnout that can come from launching three games within a single year. “Spacing those releases helps the company manage its resources and not burn everybody out,” noted Sawyer, one of the team’s key figures. “It’s not good to release three games in the same year. It’s the result of things going wrong.”
Despite Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 sitting on polar opposite ends of the genre spectrum—one a high fantasy adventure and the other a space-faring romp—there’s a feeling that the team might have been vying against themselves by launching both in such close succession. Toss in competition from titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Borderlands 4, and Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles, and it’s clear the RPG market isn’t all that accommodating at the moment.
These are the kind of projects that deserve the time to let players immerse themselves in their narratives. Luckily, it seems like Obsidian is taking away the right insights from this current scenario, and hopefully, these games will find their audiences in due course.
Amid all this, Urquhart also clarified that The Outer Worlds 2 wouldn’t carry the $80 price tag initially discussed. Microsoft plans to keep its ear to the ground, aiming to balance financial health with fan expectations.