Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds was well-received when it launched in 2019. Its unique mix of fast-paced action, witty dialogue, and not-so-subtle social satire helped to set it apart from games with similar aesthetics or gameplay like the Fallout series, and fans were eager to see more of Obsidian Entertainment's new IP. With the announcement of a sequel, players had their prayers answered, and the first trailer for The Outer Worlds 2 leaned even more heavily into the franchise's particular brand of sardonic humor. With details about The Outer Worlds incredibly thin, fans have been left to speculate about what the game might entail.
The Outer Worlds takes the action to the Halcyon system, and that's where it stays for the entirety of the game. Players have a hand in shaping this system and choosing the fate of the inhabitants, but while it serves as a great central location for the first game, The Outer Worlds 2 is set to branch out into a new solar system altogether. This may open up new opportunities to explore life outside of Halcyon, but it could also provide some answers to what has happened to Earth, and why communications suddenly went dark.
Earth's Fate in The Outer Worlds
The Earth of The Outer Worlds is much different from the player's own. The game explores an alternative timeline, where U.S. President William McKinley was not assassinated, and a hyper-corporate, highly stratified society was created at the start of the twentieth century. Megacorporations have grown in power and influence, and by the time the first game takes place, they practically control all aspects of daily life. They have colonized various solar systems, keeping residents dark about each one, and have encouraged settlers from Earth to travel to their colonies to start a new life.
Players know that the Earth Directorate – a planet-wide government and regulatory body – was in charge of dispensing colonies to corporations as well as for settling various conflicts between Earth's few remaining nations. With the dwindling power of nation-states and the growing dominance of corporations and off-world colonies, Earth appeared to be in a sorry state. Not much is known about the condition of humanity's homeworld in The Outer Worlds, and only the Earth Directorate cruiser J.J. Astor remains in Halcyon as a link to the planet.
Earth in The Outer Worlds 2
Over the course of the game, the mysteries surrounding Earth only deepen, with the disappearance of the Cornelius Vanderbilt – another Earth Directorate ship – and a blackout of all communications from Earth itself. The ship had apparently discovered something about Earth, and its fate points towards some potentially quite dark conclusions. While there are a few mysteries from the first game, the fate of humanity's homeworld is really one that The Outer Worlds 2 needs to address.
With Earth's own declining influence and the prominence of corporations and their control over their various colonies being a large factor in The Outer Worlds' societies, it seems like a good plot point to address in the sequel. Players know that something major has happened to their homeworld, and solving that mystery could be a substantive backbone for The Outer Worlds 2's story as the protagonist explores a brand-new solar system. There might have been some kind of cataclysmic war, or the corporations could have banded together to cut off Earth from its various colonies to assume complete control. There are a variety of reasons, but it would be fascinating to try and uncover them in the sequel.
Communication of any kind about other colonies or the state of Earth is scarce or non-existent in the first game, and this has left some substantial holes in the player's (as well as multiple main characters') knowledge about the wider galaxy. With so many secrets surrounding the wider worlds, it seems that The Outer Worlds 2 is aiming to address at least some of the questions raised by the first game.
The Outer Worlds 2 is in development.