The Outer Worlds 2 was first announced by developer Obsidian Entertainment back at E3 2021. We haven't too much about it since then outside of a report that it might be coming a bit sooner than we originally expected. That makes sense considering Obsidian has released Grounded and Pentiment in the years since, while also working on Avowed. However, a recent job posting on Obsidian's official site has some thinking that The Outer Worlds 2 might be getting multiplayer support. If that's the case, it wouldn't be surprising to see the game not launching for another year or more.

The job posting was first spotted by the team at Game Rant. They noticed that a new posting had gone up on Obsidian's site for a senior network programmer. This listing mentions "multiplayer gameplay" several times throughout, which is the first reason that many think this could be a multiplayer addition to The Outer Worlds 2. That said, this job could be related to another job Obsidian has in development.

The telling piece may be that the posting specifically calls for someone with familiarity with Unreal Engine. Again, this could be for an unannounced game, but The Outer Worlds 2 is noted for being Obsidian Entertainment's first game using Unreal Engine 5. Of course, that could all be circumstantial, but it's been enough to get people speculating. Until Obsidian makes an official statement though, that's all anyone can do.

New star system. New crew. Same Outer Worlds. 🚀 ✨ https://t.co/LiO07FpPmm pic.twitter.com/JHkP7l2FYt

— The Outer Worlds (@OuterWorlds) June 13, 2021

As mentioned, we don't know much about The Outer Worlds 2. While the game was announced in 2021, Obsidian has had quite a bit on its plate over the last few years. Plus, it is currently also working on Avowed. That game is slated for 2024, but it also doesn't have a firm release date yet. It's likely we won't get The Outer Worlds 2 before Avowed, but only Obsidian knows at this point.

What we do know is that The Outer Worlds 2 includes a "new star system" and "new crew." The actual gameplay might be relatively the same, but it doesn't sound like any of the fan-favorite characters or worlds will be making a comeback. Obsidian could choose to change that during development, but for now, it's best to expect a brand-new world.

Another thing that might not be completely set in stone is whether or not The Outer Worlds 2 is coming to PlayStation 5. Obsidian was purchased by Microsoft in 2018, so the game will be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one. In general, you would assume that means it's not coming to PlayStation's console, but Game Rant notes that first-party multiplayer games have not been made exclusive by Microsoft in the past. It's possible this could include The Outer Worlds 2, but that is pure speculation. Like everything, it's nearly impossible to predict until Obsidian or Microsoft makes an official announcement.

Posted: Sep 21, 2023 2:33 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/the-outer-worlds-2-multiplayer-rumor-ps5-xbox-pc/