Many sequels from successful games were set up throughout 2021, and one such sequel that was revealed during the summer was The Outer Worlds 2. Obsidian Entertainment's captivating sci-fi romp through the stars was well-received by those that were both familiar and new to the developer's RPG stylings, and the first trailer for The Outer Worlds 2 ensured fans that it would maintain the same level of humor as the first game. While it may not be coming out any time soon, the reveal was enough to get many fans excited for a return to Obsidian's twisted storytelling sometime in the future.
Unfortunately for some fans, however, The Outer Worlds 2 was revealed with a pretty big asterisk that the first installment didn't have. As a result of Microsoft's recent acquisition of Obsidian, The Outer Worlds 2 is going to be exclusive to Microsoft Windows and Xbox Series X/S. This would be strange for any game that had its sequel restricted to select platforms when the first installment was available on everything possible, but the fact that The Outer Worlds spent much of its story satirizing the very same business mentality that Xbox is employing makes The Outer Worlds 2's situation seem almost too ironic to be true.
The Satire Of The Outer Worlds
One of the best features of The Outer Worlds was its witty writing and sci-fi setting framed around a crumbling capitalist system. The Halcyon colony was quite literally run by corporations, with no formal democratic government and only the whims of business motivating everything. Not too dissimilar from some real-world situations, the game satirized what happens when corporations have too much influence in running society by showing the extremes that are created by such a system. From the depravity of the conditions created by Spacer's Choice, to the classist elite of the Halcyon capital, Byzantium.
The Outer Worlds' story resonated so well with many gamers because of the truth in its satire. If the past couple of years have shown anything, it's that corporations aren't always willing to put the well-being of their employees above a gain in profits. The primary message of the game was to recognize that this mentality is wrong and in many cases greatly immoral, but that a broken system can be changed when the betterment of everyone is prioritized. As the credits roll on The Outer Worlds, and if players are able to get the most favorable ending, there is a strong sense that not everything has to be about making a quick buck.
The Issue With The Outer Worlds 2's Xbox Exclusivity
After all of the work that The Outer Worlds did to satirize and call attention to the shady business practices of some corporations, The Outer Worlds2's Xbox exclusivity comes off as unbelievably tone-deaf. The simple motivation behind it is this, one of the biggest forces behind console sales is the games exclusive to them. PlayStation has proved this over the better part of a decade with its rampant success, and the decision to make games like The Outer Worlds 2 exclusive to Xbox is no doubt in response to it. Much like those in the Halcyon colony, however, this profit-driven decision will only hurt the gamers that were looking forward to the sequel and don't have access to the required systems.
Details are still very sparse on The Outer Worlds 2 as a whole, including the game's release window. If it turns out that Xbox wants to eventually share the sequel with other gamers, it could take a timed exclusive approach like many other games have employed in recent years. This would hardly be the ideal situation for PlayStation or Switch owners that want to enjoy The Outer Worlds 2 as soon as possible, but it would be better than never being able to play it all. For now, gamers will just have to hope that Obsidian is at least self-aware enough to include some tongue-in-cheek reference to this exclusivity in the final game.
The Outer Worlds 2 is currently in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.