Microsoft Gaming purchased Obsidian in 2018, folding the team into the Xbox Game Studios group. Since then it has wrapped production of The Outer Worlds; released Grounded, supporting it through years of early access and regular content drops; released Pentiment in 2022, and Avowed in 2025 following a short delay; and managed to bring Grounded and Pentiment to PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch as part of Microsoft's multiplatform initiative. If that weren't enough, it also has 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds 2 and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded 2 set to release this year.

It's a lot, particularly for a first-party studio operating within the Xbox ecosystem. I was keen to understand how the studio has managed this flood of new releases, and thankfully the teams at 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Obsidian Entertainment were only too happy to answer.

Inside Grounded 2

When Xbox revealed Grounded 2 at the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Showcase, it announced that "Obsidian and Eidos Montréal have joined forces to bring you the next chapter with even more depth, danger, and discovery to experience." The way development responsibilities have been split between the two award-winning teams says a lot about the flexibility Obsidian has been affor🐠ded by Xboxไ Game Studios.

"Grounded 2 is actually a good example of our growth as a developer. We could not do what we're doing right now if 🗹we didn't have great🎐 development partners and co-dev partners," says Feargus Urquhart, studio head and CEO at Obsidian. "That's one of the big transitions for us"

Urquhart says that it has long been his ambition for Obsidian to scale beyond the boundaries of a traditional studio, simply shifting from one project to the next. "With Pillars of Eternity 2, we signed up a publisher late because we really wanted to start publishing games ourselves. We didn't really have the people internally, so we hired some people in but it didn't really work out. So unlike 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:CD Projekt RED, BioWare, and ot🍰hers who were on the cusp of becoming publishꦡers we weren't getting there."

"This isn't me saying that Microsoft is allowing us to become a publisher," he laughs. "It's more that the acquisition has allowed us to become a more multi-faceted developer, which is what I've always wanted to do." This is a key component behind how Obsidian has been abꦗle to scale so quickly, and maintain such a rapid-fire release schedule. Urq𒅌uhart adds: "It's allowed us to sign up external teams. There's not a lot of studios at Microsoft that have an entire external developer making the whole game for them."

Grounded 2 has been in development for just under two years, meaning it entered production around a year after the release of Grounded 1.0 and a year before the survival-adventure made its way to PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. Around this same time, Obsidian was juggling development of Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2. Grounded attracted over 25 million players into the backyard, it's popular a⭕nd there𓂃 were demands for more; but how could Obsidian have possibly squeezed in a sequel?

"The Grounded team was relatively small, it maxed out in the 20s," says Chris Parker, 🧸Obsidian co-founder and Grounded 2 game director. "When we started thinking about doing Grounded 2 it was fortuitous how it worked out, actually, because we wound up talking to Eidos about some other stuff and it turned out that they had a small team who absolutely love🥂d Grounded. They were almost pitching us on the sequel."

From there a "significant team up at Eidos" and a "relatively large group at Obsidian" came together to push Grounded 2 through production. Grounded 1's game director Adam Brennecke, its lead programmer Roby Atadero, art director Kazunori Aruga, along with six other principal🎃 leads and a small internal steering group at Obsidౠian joined Parker to collaborate closely with Eidos. "We are constantly at each other's offices. We're talking about stuff daily. It's a really healthy relationship. And because they actually love the game at Eidos, it's not like this dispassionate contractor that we've hired. They are bringing all their own stuff to the table," says Parker.

Grounded 2 producer ⭕Miles Winzeler adds: "Obsidian and Eidos have similar design goals as studios. We mesh really well together. It's also the difference between the two of them that's been a big strength. It means Grounded 2 will feel like its own piece, as ꦉthey are able to flex what they're best at, too."

Enduring Relationships

Urquhart uses Voltron as his point of reference to describe how external teams join together with Obsidian to create something bigger, more powerful. He tells me that before the 2018 acquisition into the Xbox Game Studios group, Obsidian largely handled work in-house outside of VO, QA, and localization departments. But support from Xbox has allowed the studio to expand here in all areas of design, and reconnect with friends and former developers from acros🌄s the years.

Obsidian is collaborating with Aspiring Unicorn, UI and UX experts working across The Outer Worlds 2. There's a relationship with Digimancy Entertainment, founded by Obsidian veteran George Ziets, and with Beamdog – co-founded by Trent Oster of BioWare, who Urquhart first encountered while working on Shattered Steel at Interplay two decaꦺdes ago. Urquhart is quick to shout about these relationships (and plenty more of them). Both as an example of the ensuring legacy of Obsidian and how the studio is able to grow the scope of its projects without growing the studio too quickly.

Still, I wonder whether an increasing reliance on co-dev and outsourcing risks diminishing the identity of an Obsidian game. Urquhart says it's better to think of it as augmenting. With the right people in place, scaling 🍷this way is only to the benefit of the games co💎ming out of the studio. "The person in charge of the day-to-day collaboration with Eidos Montreal is Chris Parker, right. He was the producer on Baldur's Gate 2 and he has this length of experience working with external developers. It comes back to this question of, 'What are our strengths?' 'Do we have the people who do these things?'"

"The idea is not to be doing way more than what we're doing right now, but I think we've hit a really good size and a really good amount of things we can do. I can still be involved in all of it too, and not lose my mind – at least no more than I already ha✱ve," he laughs. "You know, Obsidian was founded by three producers, a designer, and a programmer. The intent was always to do this with our projects. Back then it was a little bit more for survival, now it's because I think it makes us better game makers."

The Heart of Obsidian

Working with external development partners is one 🎃piece of the puzzle, but not the entire picture. One way Obsidian is able to unleash Avowed, Grounded 2, and The Outer Worlds 2 within a single year is partly because of its ethos as a group: "Perfect is the enemy of the good," says Urquhart. "Our job is to make amazing games, not perfect games."

In a world where six-to-eight years is threatening to become the standard timeframe for AAA, first-party game development, seeing Obsidian become so prolific has been great to watch from a distance. Taken at an individual level, the studio is delivering exceptionally fun titles that share a consistent quality – they aren't necessarily changing the video game industry in a ༒fundamental way, but then I suspect that they aren't supposed to.

"There was a big push for a long time of everything needing to be bigger, better, and perfect, and 'ahhhh'," screams Urquhart, before chuckling: "hey, you know what 'ahhhh' means." What he's saying here is th🐎at this need for first-party studios to be operating on a level above the rest of the industry "can lead to trying to move on too many fronts at once." He adds: "That's the biggest thing for us, identifying what we are good at, what we can do with the time that we have, and then just focus on the content that we're creating – because that's what the player actually plays!"

The sentiment that "our job is to make amazing games, not perfect games" feels like a healthy outlook to have. The industry is in a bit of a difficult position right now. The cost of video game development is spiralling, with some of that cost starting to come back on the consumer – The Outer Worlds 2 will be Xbox'ꦰs first game priced at $80. The playerbase is increasing, albeit focused on a smaller selection of titles thanks in no small part to the live-service explosion in 2017. And it seems like we're barely able to go a month without some prominent, legendary development studio suffering layoffs (something the Xbox Game Studios group hasn't been immune to either). Is there not a pressure to deliver "perfect" in this environment?

"Nobody at Xbox is putting that pressure on ꦺus," says Marcus Morgan, executive producer of Grounded 2. "But it's there in the back oꩵf our minds, right? It's something we think about, and something we talked a lot about early on. There were even some moments of like, teenage years, growing through becoming a first-party studio where we wrestled with that pressure."

"In one of the first meetings that we had with [Ma💖tt Booty, president of game content and studios] and the rest of Xbox after the acquisition, they asked us to continue being true to who we are and they have given us the space to do that. We've made sure to never lose the muscle memory of having multiple teams, and of having the teams build off of each other. We haven't lost that rhythm post-acquisition," adds Justin Britch, executive producer of The Outer Worlds 2.

"Every studio has its own role to play in the industry, and its own role to play within the organization that it's in… We want to make games🏅 that we're really proud of and get them out into the world. That's our role, and we've been really fortunate to be able to do that within the Xbox ecosystem."

Building On The Past

Both Morgan and Britch point to Obsidian operating with multiple teams shifting between projects as a point of pride. "We've always been a multi-project studio," sa🔴ys Morgan. "We always have multiple teams working on multiple games, which is somewhat unique – especially in the first-party ecosystem."

Thiꩵs way of operating, Britch tells me, intersects directly with another focus for Obsidian: "We have a principal at the studio about building on past success. Some of the studios who I really admire have this iterative approach and keep building on a formula. We try to do the same. We try to keep pushing things forward while recognizing what really worked well; we don't need to reinvent the things that really matter."

"That's a component of how we're able to ship multiple games and keep shipping them, because we're so focused on building on our past successes, making them better while making sure that we aren't throwing everything out and🔯 starting over every time, because that can make it take a really long time to bring out new games," he adds.

"Another major thing is that you learn when you ship," says Urquhart, speaking to Obsidian's dedication t♒o shorter development cycles. "Not only do you learn because you actually finish a project, but you learn because your game goes out there and people tell you what they really think of it. The longer you go between those cycles, the less you're learning."

At this point Urquhart points to Baldur's Gate 3 as an example, something that happens countless times during our conversation – clearly the Larian RPG is on the vete🎃ran RPG maker's mind. "The only reason Baldur's Gate 3 can exist is because Divinity Original Sin 2 existed. If Larian took 10 years to develop Original Sin and then 10 years to develop Origina♏l Sin 2, then there's no Baldur's gate 3. That's what's super important to me. The idea is that when we ship, we learn; the pursuit of perfection leads to not shipping."

A phrase that Urquhart likes to wheel out is "constraints breed creativity." What's interesting here is that, for Obsidian, the constraints seem self-imposed. There's a strong impulse♓ to continue iterating on its foundations, rather than rip them up to try and build something more audacious. A desire to work with external developers and partners rather than grow too quickly, a mind-share of expertise internally and across the industry. And it's in the combination of all of these things which has allowed Obsidian to become the most prolific studio within the Xbox Game Studios group.

"Remember, even the work that's done outside of Obsidian comes back inside the building, and that builds on what we're doing" says Urquhart. "There's technology from Grounded that's in Avowed, technology from Avowed that's in Grounded 2, and so on. I'm super thankful that Microsoft has allowed us to build out this group of developers and support networks, and that it just lets us be… Obsidian. We're jus🙈t becoming what we've always wanted to become, which is this more well-rounded group who is able to take on a lot more of the stuff that we've always wanted to do."

The 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Xbox Series X games lineup includes Grounded 2, which launches into Game Preview, Game Pass, and Steam Early Access on July 29, 2025. It is followed by 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Obsidian game The Outer Worlds 2 on October 29, 2025 where it will release for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Game Pass. Avowed launched on PC and Xbox Series X on February 13, 2025.

Xbox Special | Our exclusive look at Xbox in 2025 and beyond continues...

With a far larger playspace to explore, mounts impacting the way you 🍬build, traverse, and fight across the open world with your friends, and a suite of quality-of-life improvements to core crafting and survival systems, there are plenty of areas for Obsidian to target as it considers the Grounded 2 early access roadmap. Speaking with game director Chris Parker, he tells me that the studio has identified narrative as a core focus moving forward.

Looking Ahead

"We have a lot of learnings on how to craft a survival experience that is fun and interesting, but also🌳 how we could add some narrative flair to that," Parker says, speaking to the challenge the original Grounded team encounterꦦed when trying to merge Obsidian's legacy as an RPG creator with the genre trappings of survival games. "I think the Grounded 1 team always wished – and to be clear, I don't think that they were unhappy with what was there, the team was excited about it – but they always wished they could have gone deeper with the narrative and developed it more."

"So, that was something we wanted to establish right from the beginning," says Parker. "The way that we were able to develop Grounded 2, because we have the foundational base that we built with Grounded, means that we are able to take on these sorts of challenges earlier. Whereas with the first game, the team was really figuring out how♊ to make the survival mechanics feel really awesome."

Grounded 2 is set two years after t♍he events of the original game. Pete, Max, Willow, and Hoops return as four playable characters, teenagers who are once again shrunk to the size of insects after an explosion at Brookhollow Park ruins an unveiling ceremony of a statue in their honor.

Obsidian says tꦍhat the whole story won't be there from day one – just enough to start uncovering mysteries – but promises that story will be a bigger part of updates moving forward. "Grounded 2 is a great opportunity to hit the na☂rrative right out of the gate," says producer Miles Winzeler.

"We'll have act one ready for the early access launch, which will be its own self-contained chapter. That can help us inform how we handle larger updates down the line, and define how we move between Point A and Point B of both the gameplay and narrative changes at each bea🀅t."

Speaking of beats on the roadmap, Parker says Obsidian learned a lot of lessons through the original Grounded in early access, and is making changes to the way it deploys updates. "When we started with Grounded 1 in early access, we were trying to do almost monthly updaﷺtes. That was a hassle and it didn't work. It didn't make the community happy and it didn't make the team happy. So we are looking at longer, meatier updates that are in the four to five month range."

We want to be able to deliver big chunks of content, just like we were doing later on in Grounded. Where the team was💯 getting out a huge chunk of whatever area of the yard, with all-new creatures, armor, new equipment, new mechanics, or whatever it might have bꦇeen. With Grounded 2, we want to bring all of these pieces into a content update so that the community can experience an entire chunk of the park and provide feedback on it as a whole piece of the game, which is really important to us."

Obsidian is yet to release the full Grounded 2 early access roadmap, although the studio has committed to being more transparent about its plans for the sequel. We're expecting to l⛎earn more on that front on July 29 – when Grounded 2 lands in Game Preview/Early Access for PC, Xbox Series X, and Game🤡 Pass.

Grounded 2 lands in Game Preview/Early Access for PC, Xbox Series X, and Game Pass on July 29, 2025.

This renewed focus shines through in a lot of different ways, but it's perhaps best evidenced in the ways in which steal🌼th has been made a viable playstyle. Game director Brandon Adler tells me that "Fallout: New Vegas and the Deus Ex games were a big inspiration", whic🅷h is clear in the synergy The Outer Worlds 2 presents between this wildly expansive approach to character building and more complex, interlocking environments.

Play Your Way

Let's start with the world you'll be exploring, because I think this is one of theꦜ most significant improvements that I noticed after my time playing The Outer Worlds 2. Setting out into a mysterious research facility, the variety of pathways towards my objective does summon fond memories of Eidos Montreal's Deus Ex games. There's locked doors and ventilation shafts, hackable electronics, and secret ro💖utes waiting to be found if you're willing to tease the camera above the centre point of the screen.

"We've tried to make sure that we have good stealth paths through most of the environments," says Adler, who explains that Obsidian has introduced throwable distraction dev☂ices and takedowns to "make it easier for players to underst🐈and" that stealth is truly viable.

"Even as we're closing production of the game down, we have a strike team that is going through every major place of interest, room-by-room, to see if we can stealth properly through each location. And if we can't, well, what are the adjustments? Ca꧂n we change a patrol here to l🏅inger longer, not facing you? Can we place some distraction devices? We're doing a lot of that type of stuff right now, because we want to offer this type of experience for the players who want it."

More complex environments and the addition of takedowns alone does not make for a compelling stealth game. Thankfully, Obsidian is matching its ambitions in this space to some really complex character building opportunitie✤s. Traits (both positive and negative) give you the ability to really lay the foundation for your fantasy.

Skills like 'Lockpicking' (lowering the difficulty of locked doors and increasing your invasion chance) or 'Sneak' (increasing stealth attack damage while decreasing the NPC awareness detection rate) allow for further specialisation. And combinations ac❀ross the perk tree not only unlock new abilities but change how the entire world reacts and responds to y🐟our character.

Given the scope of these intertwining systems, it's difficult for me to even convey just how many options you'll have here to play your way. Say you want to build a stealth assassin, then the combination of the 'Nimble' Trait, skill point investment into 'Sneak', and the Assassin 'Perk' mean you'll eventually end of moving faster when crouched than you would while𓄧 standing, with your movement𒉰 speed increasing dramatically every time you chain kills from stealth.

You can no doubt imagine how a combination like this would make you move like a force of nature through environments. Furthering the fun, perhaps you imbue this character build༒ with a Flaw like 'Bad Knees' which dramatically improves your base movement speed, but creates a cracking sound every time you stand from a crouch – alerting enemies in the vicinity to your𒅌 location. There's an exceptional amount of depth, and that applies beyond the stealth playstyle focus I'm taking here.

"One of the biggest pieces of feedback we received for The Outer Worlds was around the moment-to-moment gameplay," says executive producer Justin Britch. "We're on a journey to make this nirvana ✱RPG experience. We want everything to feel reactive; from the moment-to-moment gameplay, the dialogue choices you make, to the way you solve problems in the game," he says, adding, "we can't wait to see what players come up with in The Outer Worlds 2."

The Outer Worlds 2 will release on October 29, 2025 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. It'll also be available through Game Pass on day one.

Grounded was one of the first titles from Xbox Game Studios to♎ go multiplatform, part of a new initiative at Microsoft Gaming to make its output more widely accessible to players. Grounded made its way to PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch last April following four years of console exclusivity on Xbox, spurring the survival-adventure on to reach more than 25 million players worldwide. A big achievement, one I expected Obsidian would want to repeat should the studio ever break ground on a sequel.

Humble Beginnings

Speaking exclusively with GamesRadar+, Feargus Urquhart tel♔ls me that Grounded's success on platforms outside of the Xb🃏ox ecosystem didn't guarantee that its sequel would do the same. "It really is on a title-by-title basis," says Obsidian's studio head and CEO.

"The simplistic way of looking at Gro♒unded 2 is that it's all about being in Game Preview and Early Access. It's about building the core. We got Grounded into the player's hands and then we could see what they liked and what they didn't like, and you don't want to complicate that by having tons of different SKUs."

When Urquhart refers to "SKUs" here, he really means platforms. For a video game that's all ab๊out quick iteration, Obsidian says there's benefit in keeping the scale smaller as its development teams build an early access roadmap and adapt it through ongoing conversations with 🍰the community.

"Adaptability and reacting to what players are asking for helps inform how we will evolve the game," says Marcus 𓂃Morgan, executive producer of Grounded 2. "That was the spirit of everything we did throughout the development of Grounded, including the expansions to new platforms."

Morgan tells me that Obsidian had long wondered whether the original Grounded could ever exist outside of the Xbox ecosystem, as players spent years🌠 commenting that they "wanted to play this game wi𒊎th their friends on PlaySation and Nintendo" – but there were never any guarantees. "We were thinking, yeah, let's try to see if that works within the broader Xbox strategy to make that happen, to connect players together. That process played a role in how we thought about expanding Grounded."

I have spoken to multiple developers and decision makers at Obsidian, and they all maintain that a limited early access release for Grounded 2 has been the plan from the beginning. I asked Morgan whether the success♛ of Grounded on PS5, PS4 and Switch – production was already underway on the sequel by the time it arrived – made Obsidian consider a wider day-one relea𒁃se for Grounded 2.

"Even before we headed to new platforms, there was already a vision for where we wanted to take Grounded going forward. So while the influx of new players certainly didn't hurt – and neither did making more money – we were already on the road long before that even happened. We knew what we wanted to do, and there was already excitement and support across the Xbox organization to go 🦩out and keep growing this franchise."

So, does that mean that Grounded 2 will eventually launch on PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2? It could depend entirely on whether that's something players actuall🍸y want. "You know, there are pros and cons of doing an early access game," Morgan continues," and one of those things is that you're releasing a game t𝔉hat is intentionally unfinished so you can build on it with the community."

"Starting with that as a baseline initially helped us make Grounded successful, which is the only reason we're here for Grounded 2. Our focus is just on what our players are enjoying, and what's satisfying is that♛ we can do that in a sustainable man𝓀ner," he says. "That's the approach that we'll take going forward, and we'll see what happens in the future – with regards to how it grows and how it expands."

Grounded 2 lands in Game Preview/Early Access for PC, Xbox Series X, and Game Pass on July 29, 2025.

"The starting point for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded 2 in early access is the same size as the entirety of Grounded 1.0," says executive producer Marcus Morgan. "One reason for that is: this is Grounded 2, right – obviously it's got to be bigger! But the more important reason is that it facilitates the Buggies, which are our mounts. We really had to push to redesign the entire world, because now that you have mounts you can navigate the world much more quickly. That decision 💯has actually changed the way we design all of our areas in Brookhollow Park, both above and below ground."

Brave New World

While Obsidian (and Deus Ex developer Eidos Montreal, who is partnered on production of this sequel) is yet to settle on a final size for Brookhollow Park, it's expected to be roughly three times the size of the original game's backyard by the time Grounded 2 eventꩲually emerges from early access. Part of the challenge here, says game director Chris Parker, is in making this new setting feel distinct. "The challenge with a sequel – and this is certainly something that we 💃think about a lot – is that there can be this perception that Grounded 2 looks a lot like Grounded 1."

"We've tried to make everything more beautiful," says Parker, speaking to the shift to Unreal Engine 5. "The areas that are essentially grass, which there are a lot of in Grounded, have new creatures and new elements about them whic♋h work to refresh those areas and make them new, but then we also have completely new biomes too." Brookhollow Park is this vibrant, nostalgia-soaked suburban wilderness that offers far more variance – expanding your options in exploration, building, and survival.

Producer Miles Winzeler tells me that "the change of locality" was driven by Obsidian's desire to look b🐻eyond new featuresets like the Buggies, refreshed combat, and a suite of mechanical improvements. "Outside of the map-size changing, the move from a backyard to a park has been huge for us."

"We've kept the organic parts of Grounded, as they were essential to the survival elements, but these changes open the door to a lot of new situations in more man-made struc🦩tures. Areas like the Ice Cream Cart and the Barbecue which are built for public consumption. This is a natural progression for Grounded, and a great blank slate for🎐 us to build on through early access," says Winzeler.

Making sure that Grounded 2 feels like a true sequel is clearly something Obsidian and Eidos Montreal is wary of. It's why I ask Morgan whether the studios ever considered expanding the player count be𝓀yond four in co-op to match the expanding scope of the world. "The shared-world nature and the intimacy of playing with your friends is a really, really important part of what made Grounded feel special and unique. We idenཧtified areas we could build upon – the new mounts, world, story, and plenty more – but that part we wanted to keep the same. There's an intimacy to that."

Morgan adds: "The relationship you build with your friends, and the camaraderie yജou h𒁃ave in doing this all together, was something we wanted to retain. So that's a component of why we didn't go to like a 60-player server, because it would have undermined what Grounded was really about. Grounded is about going on this nostalgic adventure with your friends, and we want to keep that spirit alive as we move into Grounded 2."

Grounded 2 lands in Game Preview/Early Access for PC, Xbox Series X, and Game Pass on July 29, 2025.

That surprise you're picking up on isn't because I think developer Obsidian Entertainment isn't capable of greatness – the studio is, after all, undoubtedly responsible for some of the best RPGs of the last 20 years. Role-playing games, not shooters – there are sharp degrees of expertiꦿse required to succeed in either landscape. But the studio has clearly set itself exceptionally lofty targets here, with big ambitions fueling what could be its most definitive title to date.

A True Evolution

The Outer Worlds 2 is a substantial evolution over its predecessor, designed to be more reactive and intricate in all that it does. Obsidian has drawn from the legacy of Fallout: New Vegas to help inform The Outer Worlds 2's complexity. There are more varied flaws and traits, and over 90 perks – even from a brief time poking through the menus, it's clear that there's a dizzying variance to character creation and expansion. Stealth has been carefully overhauled, and there's a dynamism to speech that demonstrates growth over similar s𝓡ystems seen in Obsidian's Avowed and Bethesda's Starfield.

Which is all to say that The Outer Worlds 2 is really shaping up to be a pretty exceptional RPG…but let's get back to that shotgun. The one adorned in shards of ice. The one which blasts enemies back with this shatteringly concussive force. I haven't stopped thinking about the reload animation, as individual shells are slotted into place before the barrel is cocked back into position with a satisfying snap. It speaks volumes that, while exploring a sprawling environment full of branching paths, locked doors, and ventilation systems, I feel so inclined to char꧋ge into enemy encounters wit꧃h this thing in my hands. This isn't how I'd traditionally play a video game like The Outer Worlds 2, but I can't help myself.

For a studio like Obsidian, with decades of experience and expertise in the RPG genre, I was keen to understand how it is delivering gunpꦆlay that could legitimately outshine dedicated shooters. Brandon Adler, game director of The Outer Worlds 2, was only too happy to answer: "Even before The Outer Worlds shipped, that was one of the things we knew we wanted to improve when it became time to target a sequel."

Adler tells me that this process included the design team completing a "full breakdown of Destiny" for inspiration, and a masterclass with another key team from the Xbox Game Studios network. "Another big aspect was talking to the Halo folks. We asked them: 'What do you guys do? How can we improve this, and what are we doing wrong?' They gave us this huge list of stuff and said that we should target these types of things, add this to our weapons configurations. So✃ we did all of that."

He also points to the decision to bring in dedicate♏d combat and weapons designers into development early, and the impact increased resources can have on a production – the original game was published by Private Division, rather than Xbox Game Studios. You can feel this flood of expertise in the way the guns handle; the personality inherent in every reload,꧑ the unique recoil patterns attached to every weapon class, and the sharp snap into ADS.

Which is all to say that The Outer Worlds 2 is shaping up to be a compelling prospect, regardless of whether you're coming to it for the most in-depth RPGs of the year or have typically leaned towards more traditional shooters in the past. There was always going⭕ to be this need for The Outer Worlds 2 to prove itself on a larger stage than the 2019 original.

It'♏s the first title out of Xbox Game Studios to be price🌠d at $80, and another would-be Xbox exclusive that's set to land on PS5 from day one. It's difficult to know whether Obsidian is truly ready for the scrutiny that's about to follow. But what I do🎃 know is that after three runs through a small slice of The Outer Worlds 2, I'm absolutely desperate to carve my own path through Arcadia.

The Outer Worlds 2 will release on October 29, 2025 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, Obsidian co-founder and Grounded 2 director Chris Parker explains why the sequel happened, as opposed to building on the original game. "Grounded worked on Xbox One, it was very hard to continue working on that platform and continue to expand the world and do everything that we wanted to do. And so there's that sort of technical limitation." This explains why the game🔜 is launching exclusively for Xbox Series X|S🐷 and PC.

Granted, Parker admits it would've 🍎been theoreꦰtically possible to deal with the technical limitations, but "there were just things that we wanted to do that I think the original team couldn't accomplish, just because the way that they designed the world didn't work for it."

Ultimately, Parker said that this fresh start will allow the game to be supported for even longer, while keeping with the ambitions of the studio. "When we started Grounded 2 it was like, hey, this is our opportunity to build the world from the ground u♎p and kind of give it the legs you're talking about, so that we can continue to add into it, support it, not just through early access, but beyond that as🌼 well."

Grounded 2 will follow its survival game predecessor's early access window, but the downside is "the game's not done and it's out to the world," which makes for horrifying bugs like this reverse face

As much as I enjoyed my time as the Stranger in The Outer Worlds back in 2019, I didn't overly enjoy the combat. It ofte𝓰n felt as if it played second fiddle to the game's dialogue choices, worldbuilding, and companions, which I think are the RPG's biggest strengths. It was always a bit of a shame, though, because the concept behind many of the weapons in the sci-fi universe were just ♕downright fun, and tapped directly into the fantasy of Obsidian's off-beat, corporate dystopian world.

But with a disconnect between the designs of the guns and how satisfying they actually were to use, shots never really were as punchy as I wanted them to be, and I never got too invested in that side of the game. But with Obsidian setting out to "improve gunplay in every way", and a host of unique weapons that have ওthe sci-fi nerd in me utterly amped, all the stars seem to be aligning for the sequel.

Science fiction

With an extensive look at some of the weapons in The Outer Worlds 2, what gameplay director Matt Singh had to say about the overhaul to gunplay was music to my ears: "We focused on improving the feel of each weapon, the way a weapon snaps into ADS [aiming], the way the recoils feel when firing, and how impactful our sound effects really sell the wea🌃pon's fantasy".

With 🐻improvements to every facet of a gun, right down to adding a "unique reload animation" to give weapons more character, it promises to be such a step up from the first game. Given that I already loved conceptual designs of the weaponry in the original, the mention of revamping the "feel of each weapon" is what makes me most hopeful that the sequel will not only allow me to enjoy combat this time around, but also really sell me on the fantasy of fighting in the future.

I want the weapons to be as satisfying 💜to fire as they sound, with my shots making a tangible impact or connecting with so♏me gusto – "feel" really is the operative word here. From everything Singh highlighted, I get the impression that the follow-up will make my wishes come true, and I'm already looking forward to seeing how each weapon handles for myself.

With The Outer Worlds 2 set to bring us to a new star system in a setting infused with science fiction zaniness, the weapons have so much potential for drawing us into the uniജverse. We got to see a handful of unique weapons we'll get to play around with, with Obsidian's playful creativity on full display, and I'm hopeful the improvements will really let us make the most of the "increased variety of weapons" and "new w☂eapon types".

From the Boarst Blaster that fires out tumors that explode like grenades, to the Rookie's Reward that will improve the more you use it (and even fire out a confetti fanfare each time it levels up); we can even fire out ad drones to distract enemies with slogans and jingles using a Pop-Up gun. Heck, even some very neat science weapons from the first game are returning with some much needed upgrades, including the Shrink Ray. Instead of shrinking enemies down for a short period of time, they'll stay s🗹hrunk,🐬 and you can essentially squish them like a bug. I mean, who doesn't want to do that?

Not to ♏mention the very rad looking Spectrum Dancer Saber, which is a new melee sword-like weapon that has you attack to a musical beat and stack up bonuses with each hit you land in time. These are exactly the kinds of wacky inventions I want from the wonderfully weird sci-fi setting, and I cannot wait to get my hands on them. With so many inventive designs, I have every hope they'll be as fun to use as they appear to be.

I absolutely know Obsidian can deliver in the weapon department, with Fallout: New Vegas, and more recently, Avowed, being stellar examples of RPGs with fulfilling and enjoyable combat systems. The Outer Worlds already laid down some solid foundations that just need some refining, and the Direct, coupled with the fact that Obsidian sought out advice from the developer behind Halo to g♚et the gunplay right in the sequel, has my sense of anticipation skyrocketing. Sure, the proof will be in the Shrink Ray-sized pudding as to how satisfying combat will feel this time around, but with all of the improvements and role-playing goodness in store, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the October 29 release date can't come soon enough.

See what's ahead from the studio in our roundup of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Obsidian games.

Speaking to🍸 GamesRa🐻dar+ at Summer Game Fest, Outer Worlds 2 director Brandon Adler spoke about the improvements, saying "even before The Outer Worlds 1 shipped, that was one of the things that we knew we had wanted to improve when we were going to target a sequel." In service of making great first-person shooting for the sequel Adler revealed the team "did a full breakdown on Destiny, because we loved how that felt."

But Destiny wasn't the only Bungie franchise whose shooting fed into The Outer Worlds 2, as Adler revealed that Obsidian sought out advice from Halo Studios "we said,🎐 like, 'Hey, what d💛o you guys do? What are we doing wrong? How can we improve this?' And so they gave us a huge list of stuff, and they said, like, 'Hey, you guys should target these types of things. You guys should add this to your weapon configurations.' We did all of that."

Adle༺r also mentioned that hiring a combat designer and weapons designer also gave the combat a huge boost, as they could dedicate their time to the combat. "So overall, it was just making that an actual thing that we decided to put a lot of effort and resources towards. But yeah, it was, it was something pretty important to us early on."

The Outer Worlds 2 "basically borrowed" Fallout: New Vegas' excellent Perks system, and I'm already spinning up an amazing stealth RPG build

Following on from the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Switch 2 and its $80 launch title 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Mario Kart World, Xbox 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:confirmed in a recent price hike that some of its own "new, first-party games starting this holiday season" would cost the same. The Outer Worlds 2 is our first confirmed example of this, with 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:pre-orders now open ahead of Obsidi🐼an's latest RPG launching on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 29 (not what I'd 🅷have called the "holiday season," but anyway).

Asked about the ongoing $80 price conversations in an interview at Summer Game Fest, attended by GamesRadar+, The Outer Worlds 2 director Brandon Adler reiterates that it's ultimately not a decision made by the people making the game. "We're a game developer. We love to make games. We don't set the 🎉prices for our games," he begins.

"Like, perso🅷nally, as a game developer, I wish everybody could play my game, because that's what I want out of this whole thing. But for the reasoꦉns and so like, why the $79.99 price point, you'd have to honestly talk to the Xbox folks," he continues, avoiding touching on his "own personal feelings" during the interview.

The Outer Worlds 2 likely won't be the only game to hit $80 this year and beyond, but one thing is for sure, fans really don't want 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Borderlands 4 to be one of them. Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford has been 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:facing a lot of backlash lately after suggesting that "a real fan" would "find a way to make it happen," even if the upcoming looter shooter did cost $80 – something that's not actually been confirmed, it's worth noting🍌.

From serial killer to bad knees, The Outer Worlds 2 has some ridiculous perks even by RPG standards, including one that just "makes the game pretty unplayable if you happen to choose that."

Bad knees is an in-game flaw that actually made me laugh out loud when it was described during The Outer Worlds 2 direct at 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Summer Game Fest. It allows you to move faster, b🐼ut the drawback is when you go from crouching to standing, "your knees are gonna make a loud popping noise that makes it so that, well, everyone around you is gonna hear you."

If, like me, you're on thﷺe wrong side of 30, you likely know at least one person whose knees do this – chances are, that person is you. It's actually a great roleplay quirk for a stealth🧸 character.

All that crouch walking must play havoc with your joints – Red Dead Redemption 2 actor Roger Clark did say the hardest part of filming for the game was all the squatting: "three days later my thighs were absolutely killing me."

One very 🍷cool and slightly crue💧l perk is serial killer. If you choose it, there's a chance every human you kill will drop a heart, which you can collect to get a permanent boost to your health. If you kill a human who "wasn't hostile" to you, there's a 100% chance of the drop.

I'm not sure if this means stealth kills guarantee hearts or you have to kill innocent NPCs, but either w💫ay, it's an interesting reward for being a murderer, and anotꦚher great boon for stealth players; if you do get caught, that extra health will stop you getting put down too quickly.

The🍸 strangest and most unique flaw r🌟evealed so far is sungazer. Quite literally what it sounds like, your character just loves to stare at the sun, and that has permanently damaged their vision.

The game will look hazy, and ranged weapon spread will be increased by 1💫00%, making you very inaccurate💖. It "makes the game pretty unplayable if you happen to choose that," says one developer.

While you wait for The Outer Worlds 2 to come out, check out all the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Xbox games.

During the Outer Worlds 2 Direct immediately following the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Showcase,🗹 Obsidian did very little to fight the 'Fallout in space' label that was applied to the first game. Of course, as the developers of Fallout: New Vegas, that's not something Obsidian needs to fight, but this time, it seems to be le🔯aning even further into the comparison.

That's thanks to its new take on Perks. Game director Brian Adler explained that "if anybody's played Fallout: New Vegas, they'll be very familiar with the Perks system. We basically borrowed that, but w🎶ent even🦹 grander."

The Ou🧜ter Worlds 2, Adler says, will have even more Perks than New Vegas did, suggesting that there'll be well in excess of 100 ways in which you can change up your character's approach. The team at Obsidian outlined a few of them, and the focus on some stealthy, assassination-y improvements is definitely speaking to me.

For example, there's the simply-named 'Assassin' perk, 🔯which grants a boost of speed if you get a stealth kill, making it easier to chain together multiple takedowns, or to slipꦛ into the shadows. There's also a slightly more morbid Serial Killer perk, which lets you steal the hearts from non-aggressive characters you slay, using these 'trophies' to bolster your health.

And while these are bonuses, Obsidian's allowing you to lock in a few Flaws, too. I fancy a challenge, and am now a man in my 30s, so I feel like the 'Bad Knees' flaw - which creates a loud popping noise when your character comes out of a crouch - will add a certain realism to my Outer Worlds 2 playthrough. 🌞澳洲🦄幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds 2 is coming in October, so there's not long 🌱to wait to t🐓ry out its New Vegas-style Perk system for yourself.

Never miss an announcement with our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Summer Game Fest 2025 schedule.

Now set among the lineup of exciting 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games for 2025, the follow-up promises to build on one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best survival games of recent years by taking us to a bigger setting in a park, with mounts for traversal, new creepy crawly foes, and some otheꦰr fresh features.

Below, we've gathered together everything you need to know about this new 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Xbox Series X game, from all of the latest news, to its gameplay features, world, and details from Obsidian. So read on below to geඣt a full breakdown of everything that's set to come in Grounded 2.

Grounded 2 release date

The good news is that Grounded 2 will be launching into Xbox Game Preview and Steam Early Access on July 29, 2025. This big news was revealed during the recent 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Games Showcase 2025 as part of Summer Game Fest, and shoc✅ked everyone.

The first Grounded was announced back in 20꧙19, and then went into Early Access in 2020 before getting 🍬a full release in 2022. So far, it's unclear when the sequel will have its full release, but if it follows the pattern of the first game, we are looking at two years. During the Grounded 2 Direct, it was also revealed that a public roadmap will be launching that will based on player feedback.

Grounded 2 platforms

Grounded 2 will be available to play on Xbox Series X and PC once it launches into Early Access. Currently, there is no word on a PS5 or Nintendo release. However, before you start lamenting about owning the wrong console, it's worth keeping in mind that in 2024, the first Grounded was released on the Switch, PS4, and PS5, and Obsidian has even stated that is isn't ruling out PS5, but says that Grounded 2's initial release is "all about being in Gam🅠e Preview and Early Access".

So, the sequel could follow in Grounded's footsteps and make its way to other consoles in the future. Who knows, maybe we'll see it added to our list of澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: upcoming Switch 2 games as well! For now, though, it's looking to be an 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox exclusive at launch.

Grounded 2 trailer

The first Grounded 2 trailer (which you can watch above) gave us our first look at the bigger setting we'll be exploring and venturing acros🤡s in the upcomi๊ng sequel, with the small heroes running across everything from a spilled ice cream tub, to a giant juice carton in the park.

Grounded 2 story and setting

Grounded 2 is set a few years after the events of the first game in the year 1992, and will follow the story of the four origin𒐪al teens who are still missingဣ.

If you're unfamiliar with the story of the first Grounded, basically, you are one of four teens who find themselves mysteriously shrunken down to the size of an insect and trapped in a backyard. As they explore and try to survive the brutal environment of the yard, they discover notes from Dr. Wendell Tully, who invented the machine known as SPAC.R, which can shওrink objects and people.

It turns out that you are, in fact, in Dr. Wendell Tully's yard, and so is the SPAC.R. Thank🌊s to an explosion, the pieces are scattered, and you must find them all to get back to normal. Along the way, it's discovered that the company Ominent is behind your kidnapping and has been experimenting on children.

In Grಌounded 2, Ominent appears to be back in full force and up to shady antics once again. During the Xbox Showcase at Summer Game Fest 2025, we learned the company seems to be back to its old tricks, and it's up to you to survive whatever they throw at you.

In the Grounded 2 Direct following the Xbox Game Showcase, the development team at Eidos Montreal and Obsidian Entertainment also revealed the world of 2 is larger than the first, and will🧔 take place in Brookhollow Park, which has new biomes, from the likes of an icy environment that takes the form of an overturned ice-cream cart that's contents has spilled out, as well as a "spooky" anthill.

Speaking with GamesRadar+ during the Summer Game Fest event, Obsidian co-founder and Grounded 2 director Chris Parker explained how the techn🃏ical limitations of the Xbox One influenced the decision to build an expanded world from the ground up for the second game on the current-gen X💞box Series X/S.

Grounded 2 gameplay

Much like its👍 predecessor, Grounded 2 is primarily a survival game that will have you scavenging a gigantic world for materials, as you loot bug corpses, dive into dungeons, craft shelters, and unlock upgrades that turn you into a tiny insect terminator.

Much like the first game, we expect that as you progress the story and battl🐟e massive boss bugs, you'll get to unlock technology and equipment that helps you survive as well as thrive in your shrunken state. Not only will you need to stay alive with all the creepy crawlers after you, but you'll have to manage your hunger and thirst levels as well.

Stamina also depletes during combat, and a nighttime cycle will make enemies more aggressive, so keep that in mind when you're out and about looking for💦 resources. Like the first game, co-op is also a big gameplay feature, giving you the opportunity to play with your mates (or use them as a shield when fighting those giant bugs). The game can be played solo, though, so don't worry, no matter what kind of play෴er you are, you are sorted here.

What truly makes Grounded stand out among other titles in the survival genre is its RPG-like quirks. Action is expected to be split up with witty dialogue from NPCs, and you'll cover tidbits of lore as ꦗyou make your way through the game and work to survive as a mini-person just trying their best.

During the Grounded 2 Dire♔ct, we also learned more about new 💮gameplay features, including the fact that we'll be able to dash this time around, but so can all of the enemies we face - with the reveal that we'll also be facing cockroaches.

Excitingly, the upcoming sequel will additionally feature mounts known as buggies that give us a new way to traverse and explore the world, and they'll fight alongside you when you jump off of them. You can read more about the expanded scope of the upcoming survival adventure in our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded 2 hands-on preview.

Can I pre-order Grounded 2?

Sorry, folks, but you can't pre-order Grounded 2 just yet. However, considering how the game is set to release sometime in July in Early Access, that may change soon.

You can now wishlist the game on both Steam and the Microsoft Store, so at least that's something! We'll keep you posted as we wait for more updates. In the meantime, you can read our original 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded review to prepare yourself before the sequel hits.

To be clear, don't mistake my surprise here as me suggesting that Grounded does🅘n't deserve a sequel. It absolutely does – the miniaturised adventure was a big success, after all. Rather, my surprise here is because 🐲Grounded only came out of early access on Xbox in 2022, and launched on PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch last year.

Rather than continue supporting Grounded as a live-service for years on end – like fellow Xbox Game Studios developer Rare has done with Sea of Thieves – Obsidian has instead opted to pursue an absolutely gorgeous se🌌quel. T♌he Grounded 2 reveal trailer seems to hint at an expanded playspace for you and three friends, new weapons and building tools, and the arrival of mounts and mounted combat. With the game just weeks away, we won't have long to wait to learn more.

It's worth noting that while Grounded did ꦗeventu🏅ally arrive on Nintendo and PlayStation platforms, Grounded 2 will not be – at least not for the time being. I suspect that this is because the title is launching into early access, and that Obsidian wants to iterate on the core game before expanding out to other platforms.

Grounded 2 wasn't the only announcement from the studio in the Xbox Games Showcase. Upcoming Obsidian game 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds 2 also got itself an October 29 release date, which is to🐓 say that 2025 is looking increasingly like the Year of Obsidian, with the studio having launched Avowed back in February.

Xbox Games Showcase 2025 needs to build on Microsoft's momentum, but it may need to go beyond The Outer Worlds 2 to pull it off.

"We're in, like, a post-Ba🎐ldur's Gate 3 world," Oshry says on a new episode of the . Developer Larian has "proven that people are not stupid, they don't want dumbed down RPGs, and that publishers can "se💎ll 50 million copies of a deep-ass CRPG that will take you fucking months to beat."

"I think that means t𝓰hat we can do this," Oshry concludes, "aꦜnd Microsoft should fund a Pillars [of Eternity] 3."

Another installment of the 2015, so-called Baldur's Gate spiritual successor Pillars of Eternity would be a perfect litmus test for how much influence Larian has had on gaming; series director Josh Sawyer 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:said in 2024 that Pillars of Eternity 2, which released in 2018, waꦯs met with poor sales that were "very demoralizing."

It's possible that, now, Baldur's Gate 3 – which shares both its tabletop inspiration and the hefty, chocolate cake denseness of its story with Pillars – has made players hungry for more demanding CRPGs. Creeping out from Larian's shadow, a new Pillars game could perform much better financially in 2025 than𝓡 it did nearly a decade ago.

But, though Oshry tells Quad Damage that "Josh really wants to do Pillars 3," 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Sawyer once said in a 2024 Q&A that while "people talked about [Pillars 3] because BG3 was a huge critical hit, a huge commercial hit," he feels that he's "kind of out of touch with that [CRPG] audience." So we'll just have to settle for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur's Gate 4 in 30 years.

10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode.

The skeleton is an effective piece of environmental storytelling in its own right, but that one line of dialogue makes it truly come alive for me. Through it, I feel like I'm really here with Kai, who's seeing what I'm seeing and responding in kind. It's not the first time my companion has reacted to the world around me, and it's what I've come ꦆto love most about my time with Avowed so far. From joining in during conversations, to directly interacting with the surroundings and reacting to the sights and sounds I come across, the party members have a tangible presence in my adventures that helps to ☂both immerse me in Eora and bring a real sense of companionship to my travels.

What a view

At the beginning of my adventures in Avowed, I spent a lot of time running around Dawnshore♌. The bright, colorful landscapes are just begging to be explored, and I was determined to see every inch of the area. As I sprinted across fields, parkoured up inclines, and occasionally came across xaurip camps, I was at once taken by the way Kai constantly engages with the world. In one memorable instance early on, I'd climbed up a hillside, and my reward was a picturesque view of the lush green forest below. As I went over to the very edge to soak it all in, Kai joined me, lifting up his arm to look out over the vista. "Great view, isn't it?," he remarked. "You can even see Fort Northreach in the distance." By appreciating the view and drawing my attention to the place where my adventures began, it feels as though my companion is directly providing feedback to my exploration, and in turn, draws me closer into the world.

This reactivity also makes the entire experience feel more curated. It instills the idea that everything you see and can encounter has been purposefully put there for you to discover, and Kai and Marius' interactions with it just reinforces the tailormade feel with smaller environmental stories peppered throughout the world that they will actively interact with. Whether it be a dead soldier next to a bear who'd met its demise at the tip of a spear, or a blood splatter that denotes some greater danger lurking nearby, I appreciate that companions' observations and interjections always feed into what I'm seeing in a way that feels natural and not too overdone. Any time they react, it makes sense that they would, while also making me feel more connected to what I'm ex🎶periencing.

The feedback doesn't just apply to exploration and the random places you can stumble across, either. I love how 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Avowed's companions also take part in questlines outside of combat. While exploring an estate to find some crucial information, both Kai and Marius set about looking around too, making a few comments here and there instead of idly wanderi💝ng around. In fact, it was thanks to Marius that I found a key, since he got to it before I did as I ambled around a room. It really conjures up a sense of teamwork, and continually makes me feel like I'm not alone when it comes to my objectives.

As a godlike who's sometimes ostracized for their peculiar appearance, or mistrusted for their connection to a deity, it matters that you have companions at your side. The way they behave and take part in my adventures just makes them feel like they really do have my back. Plus, it's often through them that I learn so much about the world and its lore. With Giatta now in my party, she's constantly giving me tidbits of information about the areas I'm exploring in Emerald Stair, or providing some e💙xtra background on notable individuals.

I've played a lot of RPGs with party members in my day, and I've always loved how they've helped me connect with the world and story I'm exploring. But Avowed has really blown me away with just how involved the companions often are in my adventures throughout The Living Lands. Whether I'm looking at the final resting place of a figure who was waiting for something, or I'm t𝔍rying to find hidden clues, my compan🌠ions have not only been with me every step of the way, but their presence has been tangibly felt through their actions and responses. Who knows what I might find next, or where the story will lead me, but I'm glad I won't be going it alone.

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Avowed review: "No Skyrim, but an unforgettable return to form for Obsidian Entertainment".

The flexible combat is quite different from B🅘ethesda's offering, but just like Skyrim, you have plenty of options to choose from. Even with the likes of magic wands, grimoires, swords, and guns, I keep reaching for a bow and using the tall grass to launch sneak attacks. There are certainly some pros and cons to this approach in the world of Eo♏ra, and the way fights can unfold in Avowed often demands I switch my loadout at times, but my Godlike is fast becoming another lethal archer in the making. I guess I just have to be honest with myself here: even when a combat system is made for experimentation, I just love taking enemies by surprise from a distance.

Wrapped up in a bow

I should have known I'd fall into my old Skyrim ways when I first started playing Avowed. At the very beginning, you can pick from one of f𒀰ive backgrounds that flesh out your character's origins and speak to some particular strengths they have. I was instinctively drawn to the Vanguard Scout, who's adept at spying and tracking, with an observant nature and a familiarity with the wilderness. With attribute points in dexterity and perception, I was already on m🔯y way to building a good Godlike ranger. The prologue also sees you washed up on a beach where you can find a variety of different weapons as you progress through it. It doesn't take long before I find a bow to shoot down some explosive plants to clear a path, and from there, my fate is sealed.

Once I arrive in the first open-zone area of Dawnshore and I'm joined by my new beefy blue companion, Kai, I re𝄹ally get the chance to use my time-honored approach. With various points of interest and some s🌠ide quests to complete, there are quite a few enemy camps dotted around the landscape that are full of lizard-like foes. Fortunately for me, there just so happens to be a lot of tall grass, too, which I can use to hide my presence. Often opting to fire out my first shot at either the strongest-looking enemy, or a healer type in order to take them out before the others cotton on me, it's then a game of putting some distance between myself and other foes once the jig is up.

Unlike Skyrim, you're spotted almost i🥀nstantly once you've fired out a shot, but that's where I can really use Avowed's loadout feature to my advantage. With just the press of the Y button on my Xbox controller, I can swap my bow out for an axe and shield should any enemies surround me. And as it turns, using a ranged weapon complements Kai's strength and melee approach as a fighter quite nicely.

As a Godlike who's mysteriously blessed by an unknown god, you also have a sort of magical backstabbing ability which lets you perform stealth kills. With a bow in hand, I often opt to sneak up and take out a foe using this tactic before jumping back and firing out s❀hots. Stealth wise it's not quite as satisfying as Skyrim, but the bow helps me constantly take full advantage of the surrounding environment, with explosive barrels and flammable plants just begging to be shot at to inflict damage to anything nearby. And while some boss-like fights push me to swap my loadout, I'm actually glad for it, because it's making me go beyond my bow string when the occasion calls for it.

I'm still quite early on in my adventure in Avowed, bu🌜t I've already been enjoying my time with one of my favorite weapon types in a fantasy RPG. You could argue that I'm missing the opportunity to try out something new, but hey, if it⛦ ain't broke why fix it? I'm going to keep on investing in my ranger build to see just how effective and lethal I can make my favored approach in this new world.

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Avowed review: "No Skyrim, but an unforgettable return to form for Obsidian Entertainment".

Shortly after seeing Obsidian's past on display, I get to experience what's in store next with a demo of its upcoming RPG, Avowed. By taking us back to Pillars of Eternity's fantasy universe, Avowed is n♏ot only building on what's come before, but it's also treading new ground by incorporating flexible combat, a new parkour system, and more. While my time with the new adventure is limited to a few hours, in certain respects, it already feels ♌like the culmination of the studio's experience.

Avowed art director Matt Hansen, who sits down for a chat during my studio visi🔥t, says that legacy gives Obsidian a sort of patchwork flexibility: "The nice thing is, with each game that we make, we can reference that thing and say, like, actually, how did Grounded handle that? Or how did they do it on The Outer Worlds? Or how did Pentiment handle that storytelling beat, or whatever? And we go, cool. We explored that there. Let's bring in all the greatest hits of that stuff, which is really satisfying, but then also remembering what our core DNA as a studio is, right?," Hansen explains. "We've got that mantra of 'your worlds your way'. We want to make sure that the player feels empowered to play the game in ways that excite them and occasionally will hopefully surprise them as well."

Play your way

"Your worlds, your way" begins in Avowed's character creator. With a myriad of options to bring your very own Envoy of Aedyr to life, I start altering the look of a preset character to my liking, changing up their hair, adjusting facial features, and adding scars, blemishes, and more. As my character is what's known as a Godlike – a "rare individual whose soul has been touched by the gods at birth" - I can also choose from a variety of distinctive telltale markings of my mystery deity, such as fungal mushrooms that frame their eyes, or bark that juts up from their forehead and entwines with their hair. What really makes my RPG-loving heart sing, though, is the different 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Avowed backgrounds you can choose from, such as an Arcane Scholar, or a Ranger – the latter of which I opt for. Not unlike The Outer Worlds' aptitudes, your choice fleshes out your personal history, but it's also reflected in your attribute points which I can reassign to my lౠiking, too.

As character creators go, it's pretty extensive, and I love how my chosen background is almost immediately reflected in dialogue options. The ensuing prologue sees me washed up on a beach, after the beginning of my journey aboard a ship goes awry. It's here I learn Avowed's ropes – from looting axes from a poor unfortunate footsoldier who didn't make it in one piece, to finding a grimoire beside some washed up boxes, it's a nice opportunity to switch up my loadout before parkouring over debris. Even in the opening area, I'm pleased to discover there's already plenty to discover and do, with areas to explore and involved sides quests and encounters. One, for example, sees me stumble upon a prisoner who begs me to release her, even if my com💃panion thinks I shouldn't trust her word. It's then left up to me to decide if I want to help her, or leave her behind bars. Landing on the former, the prisoner ends up joining me in battle and adding to conversations later on, which makes it feel as though my choices matter.

But what speaks to me more is the duality of the role I have in the Living Lands and the obvious tensions that arise because of it. It's apparent, even early on, that I'm something of an outsider in the world, trying to get to the bottom of not one but two mysteries. As an Envoy of the Aedyrian empire who is sent by the emperor to investigate a mysterious plague that's spreading throughout the regions of Eora, I'm also trying to understand why I'm a Godlike and what that connection means. Plus, since being a Godlike manifests through my unique physical appearance – which unfortunately shares similarities with signs of the plague – many I encounter are wary of me, with a scout accusing me of being infected because of my markings. That kind of feedback from others in the world a🎃llows me to feel like I'm ꦍreally in it, even if I don't yet know my place in it.

As game director Carrie Patel tells me, the decision to cast players as a Godlike Env꧋oy draws from the way the te💖am has previously approached stories in the Pillars of Eternity universe.

"There's always this really neat mix of a very grounded political story and then kind of th𒀰is more mysterious, esoteric, metaphysical story about souls and past lives and the gods and all of these weirder mysteries," Patel says. "And one thing that we worked with very early on – and I remember, Kate [Dollarhyde, senior narrative designer] and I actually brainstorming for several days on the whiteboard a couple years ago – was, 'How do we give the player stakes in both of those stor🎀ies and a foot in each of those worlds?"

The Living Lands

Prior to my hands-on session Patel stated that RPGs are the stu꧟dio's "bread and butter", and much about Avowed speaks to the developer's past experience. Whether it be the history and loꦆre tab brought forward from Obsidian's 2016 RPG, Tyranny (which gives you more explanation about key events, names, or references in conversation should you need it), or the option to play in either first-person or third-person like Grounded, I'm already starting to see how Avowed is like a mixture of the studio's "greatest hits", as Hansen put it. Right down, even, to the structure of the world of Eora we can explore.

Moving on to the next region, Dawnshore, I get a taste of the open zone format which has allowed the team to be more hand-crafted in their approach to every region. "We took the open zone approach with The Outer Worlds," Patel tells me, "so it was obviously a structur🍒e that we were familiar with. We knew how to build both technically and creatively in Unreal but also, I think, a couple things that it does is it allows you to create a distinct aesthetic and a distinct set of characters and story lines and kind of sense of place in each region."

In Dawnshore, just like the prologue, there's so much to see and do outside of the main quest line. I frequently experiment with my combat loadout to use the environment to my advantage – one instance, for example, sees me send out fire spells from my grimoire to trigger flammable explosives that litter the landscape of an enemy camp. Smaller side quests also draw me off the beaten path, and le💖ad to surprising outcomes – such as the time I encounter a Dawnshore resident who needs help reclaiming their cabin, which has been invaded by lizard-like creatuꦡres known as xaurips.

Accompanied by my blue scaly companion Kai, a mercenary soldier who sounds just like Garrus Vakkarian, the core quest tasks me with locating the Strangleroot, which seems to be a large twisty tree in a forested area where a Aedyrian ambassador seemingly got lost. But with plenty of people 🅷to meet and talk to, and smaller side quests to distract me from my goal, the sense of scale feels a little more expansive than some of The Outer Worlds' zones from what I've seen so far of the first area.

What I spend most of my time doing, though, is fighting. That's because the game's flexible combat system is a huge part of what makes Avowed stand out. With various loadouts to chop and change on the fly, from wielding wands to guns and swords and shields, to throwing out fireballs and ice from grimoires, the many options at my fingertips encourage me to experiment and mess around to find my preferred combat style. I end up opting for a two-handed great sword and bow and arrow combo, which I can switch between quickly in c൲ombat by hitting Y. While the great sword delivers heavy, satisfying blows, the trade-off is it's quite slow and I have to up my dodging game. Even each weapon's positives and negatives feed into the greater choice and consequence-leading approach of Avowed – any weapon you choose can change up how combat feels and plays.

Looking ahead

As someone who lives for fantasy RPGs, it feels like we've been really spoiled for choice in recent times after quite a long stretch without any major releases. With the likes of 2023's 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur's Gate 3 and the long awaited arrival of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dragon Age: The Veilguard just last month, Avowed 💜eyes the fantasy RPG space of 2025. I've admittedly been tentatively excited about the prospect of Obisidian's new adventure, but after my hands-on time, that excitement feels more tangible. It may not tick every single box I look for in the genre (I've always been a big fan of romance in RPGs, which Avowed doesn't feature), but just from my brief session alone, I can see how it's putting choice and consequence at the forefront in almost every respect.

Since its initial reveal back in 2020, Skyrim has become the most common point of comparison – particularly 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:in regard to combat. But as I spend more time speaking to the team and trying out the game, it's Obsidian's hallmark approach to RPGs that shines through the most. When launch day arrives, Avowed will be releasing either side of other big RPGs – the February 18 date is flanked by the likes of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Assassin's Creed Shadows and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Monster Hunter Wilds. But as I leave the California studio where the upcoming adventure has spent five years in development – and where it will soon join the rows of games displayed proudly at its entrance – it's easy to see 🐭why the team is so confident Avowed will make its mark as a true "Obsidian-style" RPG.

"The really wonderful thing about the modern age as a gamer is you've always got great new stuff coming out," Patel says, "And so I don't think you're ever going to find a window where absolutely nothing is coming out and you're going to be the only one out for a month. But we're very confident that Avowed is going to stand on its own. I'm very🧔 excited about a lot of those games coming out personally, and I think that we're also [offering a] very distinct experience from them. Players who want an Obsidian style RPG, with our approach to choice and consequence and our very nuanced take on narrative are going to find exactly what they're looking for ඣwith Avowed. And the time that we've gotten in extending to February has just given us more time as a team to fix bugs and kind of do those final tuning passes."

Avowed is set to release on Xbox Series X/S and PC on February 18, 2025. See what else awaits us with our roundup of upcoming Xbox Series X games.

State of Decay 3 popped bꦡack up with a new trailer last night, focusin🥀g mainly on a tense fight against undead hordes and the melancholy permadeath that's come to define the series so far. The whole thing looked largely familiar to long-time decaying survivors, but we now have more details about t꧂he threequel's co-op ambitions. 

While State of Decay 2 introduced co-op to the series, you and your friends were tethered together and thus🅷, couldn't stray too far from the host player. State of Decay 3 is looking to change things with a "much larger, truly shared open world."

"The first thing that I hope people pick up [from the trailer] is that there's four player cꦫharacters we're highlighting — three of them start in different places in the world — so we're implying this idea of a shared world experience, not just a ride-along, and that the boundaries in which ✱you can go off independently are going to be much, much greater than they were in State of Decay 2," explains studio head Philip Holt in a recent blog post. It doesn't sound like State of Decay 3 will be a totally untethered co-op experience, but the game is at least loosening the leash a little.

To deliver on that promise, Undead Labs is teaming up with the RPG hitmakers at Obsidian Entertainment (the Avowed studio) on the game's improved online flexibil✱ity. Obsidian's bug-sized survival hit Grounded releaไsed with Undead Labs' "shared save technology," and it sounds like the team is now returning the favour to "deliver a truly open co-op world owned by multiple players," which potentially alludes to multiple player-owned communities on the same map.

The Gears of War stewards at The Coalition are also helping the studio become acquainted with Unreal Engine 5, as is evident by the lack of the series' signature jank, so there's a real Xbox Game Studi🌺os team-up happening on the infected threequel. 

There's no release date yet for State of Decay 3 but you can check out everything else announced at the Xbox Game Showcase.

The whole thing was kicked off with the tweet embedded below, which shows off one of the perennial RPG's most infamous lines. This site's overlords restrict me from spelᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚling it out, but the line says something about plowing fields with someone's daughter? By accident? "A little." See for yourself below. 

That's just the tip of the iceberg as the post inspired thousands of res🔜ponses, all sharing their own favorite memories from perhaps the funniest game ever made. "They asked me how well I understood theoretical physics. I said I had a theoretical degree in physics. They said welcome aboard," another shares.𒉰 

"Nobody’s d**k's that long. Not even Long Dick Johnson, and he had a fucking long d**k. Thus, the name," is apparently every player's favorite line, and their mum's, 𝓰and mine, based on all the loving dedicated to it. 

One robot in the game is "programmed for your pleaꦺsure" and us to "please assume the position." A worthy partner for those who enjoy life's harder edges. 

The sex bot's hunger for us is no match for the NPC above, who's either absolutely starving or just a massive fan of eating rats, a wasteland delicacy. "I'm going to eat the next f**kin🌞g rat I see," is even funnier when you turn up the sound and listen to the actor's fantastic delivery.  

A classic New Vegas line comes after players decide to optionally shoot an 🐈in-game statue. "What the f**k are you doing? My brother died at the Battle of Hoover Dam. You’re desecrating a war memorial," one NPC 🌱who doesn't take the vandalism well. Instead of de-escalating the situation, the player can just double down on being a massive knob: "You're a little bi**h and your brother was, too."

Sticking with the mean guy persona, players can bully the ghoul Greeks by  him, "Sheesh, you're one ugly sonofabitch!" Almost as endearing as robo ED-E's . Delightful game, right?

A Fallout: New Vegas fan is trying to raise $500,000 to put the RPG’s enigmatic antihero on the Vegas orb.

Earlier this week, Josh Sawyer, who worked as project director and lead designer on Fallout: New Vegas, replied to a Twitter user who was poking fun at the game's card game, Caravan. If you didn't know, the mini-game can be found in New Vegas' Mojave Wasteland ꩲbut isn't a lot of players&ap𝓡os; first choice for things to do in the RPG.

Replying to the tweet, which basically suggests a lot of people still don't understand Caravan even 14 years later, Sawyer said: "It's more complicated than Samuel's Lansquenet but not that hard [in my opinion]" - referring to a card game in the developer's more recent game 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Pentiment. 

In response, another Twitter user replied: "Josh, less than 6% of PC players have the 'Win 3 games of Caravan' achievement."  The numbers clearly don't lie, but Sawyer wasn't ready to admit defeat, and continued to defend Caravan by suggesting that "they should try again [in my opinion]." So if you've been influenced to return to Fallout New Vegas - maybe 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:after watching the Fallout TV show - you should give Caravan another go. 

Despite the Fallout TV show's popularity, this hasn't prompted any movement in terms of new games. Just days after the series premiered, a B🍸ethesওda veteran implied that we shouldn't Fallout 5 any time soon as "we need time to make great stuff." It's not all bad news though, as we are getting the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Fallout 4 next-gen update which adds 60fps support, a new quest, and more 🤡on April 25.

Find out everything we know so far with our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Fallout 5 guide.

Obsidian Entertainment's design director Josh Sawyer - who also led heavyweight games such as New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Pentiment - occasionally 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:shares insightful tidbits about the studio&a♓pos;s catalog on social media. His most recent treat explains how New Ve🌌gas' Nipton Lottery and Vault 11 came to be.

Nipton is a small town in the wasteland that's under attack when the player stumbles in, with bandits gruesomely executing and๊ crucifying innocents. But after running a lottery, the invaders decide to let one young man run away unharmed. When recently asked about the quest on , Sawyer explains that the town was inspired by its real-life counterpart, also called Nipton, because it's the "closest place from Vegas [that] could easily buy California lottery tickets." A practical explanation, then. 

The fan was also curious about Shirley Jackson's influences - the author behind twisted classics such as Haunting of Hill House - specifically her short story called The Lottery (originally published in in 1948) which features a small rural community who sacrifice people based on lottery results in a superstitious bid to impℱrove their crop's harvest. The Lottery, despite surface-level similarities, didn't inspire Nipton, but it did inspire the bone-chilling Vault 11, according to Sawyer.  

Vault 11 is one of those insidious social experiments that were more focused on sadistic drama rather than preserving life beyond the apocalypse. Vault 11 inhabitants were told that the community must sacrifice one person every year, or else the entire place would implode. What followed was years of strife as Vault Dwellers split off into voting blocs to decide who the sacrificial lamb would be - with the bigger voting bloc🧜s coercing and intimidating others to get their way. In reality, nothing would happen to the community if they decided to just, like, not murder anyone. Untangling Vault 11's nightmarish history makes for one of the series' best vignettes, so it makes sen🌳se that the embryonic idea came from the great Shirley Jackson.

Josh Sawyer also teased that he would happily make Pillars of Eternity 3, if only it could have a Baldur's Gate 3 budget attached. 

Carrie Patel, the director of Avowed, has appeared on the Dropped Frames podcast to offer insight into the upcoming game's development, more specifically, how the team is respo💖nding to community feedback, such as the game's combat that is still evolving ahead of its release.

During the Xbox event, we saw 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Avowed's polished combat, leading fans to compare it to a certain Bethesda RPG. Not long after this, Patel addressed the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Skyrim comparisons and revealed that the ♕upcoming action RPG is more like ꦆObsidian's "fantasy take on The Outer Worlds" instead. 

In the Dropped Frames interview, the director discusses the community's reaction to Avowed and explains: "We showed something for a showcase last June, we showed a little bit more at Developer Direct a coupl🌳e of weeks ago [...] so we're getting𝔍 to share more and more, but all of that is while the game is still in progress." 

Patel continues by mentioning Avowed's combat: "One of the heartening things has been seeing ꧑fans c💫all out some of the things that we are actively working on, like the sense of hitting and impacts as you're attacking enemies." 

The director then goes on to explain how the footage we saw during the Developer Direct is actually "a few weeks behind" 🎃where the team is currently, in terms of its development. "It's kind of nice to always say like 'yep, they saw it, we know it, trust us, we're wo♑rking on it," Patel continues. 

What this basically means is that Avowed could see a lot of changes between now and when it's 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:set to release in Fall 2024 - we just have to trust the process. In case you were wondering, Obsidian has revealed that Avowed is set in Pillars of Eternity's world, but you don't need to have played the studio's old🍃er CRPG first. 

Avowed is a fantasy RPG with open-zone maps, unique local conflicts, and companions to meet – but it's still "the player's story first and foremost."

That means although the game isn't a fully open roaming experience, we can expect opportunities for nuanced environmental storytelling and companion-specific decisions as we explore Eora. "Open zones allow us to create a strong sense of place in each of our environments," game director Carrie Patel tells us. "All of our regions have distinct aesthetics and atmospheres as well as unique local conflicts and narratives that build towards the larger, grander story that the player is at the center of. Building Avowed through separate regions allows us to balance that sense of distinctness with a feeling that the player is journeying through portions of a much larger world," says Patel, speaking to Avowed&aꦬpos;s championing of choice and consequence-driven gameplay – and its flexibility doesn't stop at its 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:"classless" combat system. 

Gather the troops

Avowed's highly-reactive world contains myriad stories and subplots to explore, largely involving your companions. Patel describes these companions as "fel🅠low travelers'' you meet on your journey, and "each have their own ties to the Living Lands, investment in its central conflicts, and personal demons, all of which shape their perspectives." While a romantic opportunity wit🧜h any of these companions is seemingly off the cards, their stories have the potential to affect the player's own.

In Avowed, we can "influence how the companions tackle their respective personal struggles, and the companions in turn will try to nudge the player around the decisions and outcomes that they think are best…rightly or wrongly," says Patel. "Ultimately, though, companions are the play🦄er’s allies – and if you get to know them – friends, which means they’ll help the player out of sticky situations when they can, and they’ll share the expertise they have." 

Th♛is sounds like Avowed's companions are somewhat optional rather than hard-written into any given playthrough. Their importance in the broader narrative seems essentially down to how players deal with respective quest lines, district conflicts, and other subplots. 

Potentially "missable" content like this has been a huge draw for me in other RPGs, with the sheer breadth of choice on offer in the likes of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur's Gate 3 being but one reason many players (including myself) are finding such 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:immense replay value in it. I'm keen to explore just how much Avowed's story can shift and branch out after making certain decisions. Obsidian has already commented on how players will neve🔯r see 100% of everything in a single pl𒁏aythrough due to how much 𝓰of it hinges on choꦅice, so right now, it's sounding more than promising.  

In terms of who these companions are and what they're capable of, Avowed is leaning toward a party-makeup system that can be shaped however you wish. "Each companion has a role in the party if the player wants them to," says gamepla🃏y dir﷽ector Gabe Paramo. He goes on to give two examples. "Kai is a tank and can taunt enemies, causing him to take aggro, or Giatta can heal the party when you want her to."

Still, companion choices are just one part of Avowed's overarching mission to facilitate the roleplaying fantasy. "Players will have extensive freedom to experiment with companions, class capabilities, and character progression in both combat and other aspects of the game," says Paramo, with Patel having said previously that Avowed's combat is more like a "fantasy 💯𒀰Outer Worlds" despite the Skyrim comparisons. 

The ultimate goal of Avowed is clear to me: it's our world to shape h꧅owever we want, from whose stories we interact with to how we engage in battle. "The player is the main character of Avowed," Patel says in conclusion. "Companions have their own outlooks, goals, and visions for the future of the Living Lands, but this is the player’s story first and foremost, and it falls to the player to decide whose advice to heed."

"At Obsidian, it's your world, your way, right?" says gameplay director Gabe Paramo in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:an interview with Gamesradar+. That philosophy manifests in combat via the dual-wielding system, which lets you combine any two pieces of equipment at the same time. "'Combinator🅠ics' as I call it; people make fun of me for using this term."

"It's being able to put a pistol in my rꦛight hand and a shield in my offhand," Paramo continues. "I'm blocking and I'm firing. It's the choice and consequence with things like, I'm using a dagger that's quick and it's more silent, and I'm using a pistol that's loud and hꦇas a little bit of a reload recovery time on it."

Obsidian's initial player-first marketing left me kind 𝓡of cold. Where's the motivation to actually, you know, play a role in a world that never pushes back at you? But the studio's track record gives me hope that the upcoming game will be more interesting than those frictionless choices sound, between KOTOR 2, Fallout: New Vegas, and the P☂illars Of Eternity duology, which shares its setting with Avowed. 

Thankfully, Paramo also revealed that there are "pros and cons to all the choices" and there is no "one perfect build, there's gonna be, again, choice and consequence for what you kit out with your character." Some consequences aren’t permanent, however, since you also have the option to reꦇspec your character at any time to experiment with all those fun firearm-shield-wand combos. 

Player freedom in regards to character-building aims to let us adapt to challenges on the go, which is further compounded by environmental obstacles where fire magic might be needed to melt ice or a heavy weapon can be used to cut through bramble. That sounds genuinely cool, though I wish we saw some of it in the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Developer Direct 2024.

Developers previously revealed that Avowed has heaps of content that “not everybody’s gonna find.”

2023 alone delivered some of the most unforgettable, genre-defining experiences we've seen in some time, with games like 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur's Gate 3 and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Sea of Stars helping to push the boundaries of what RPGs can, could, and maybe even should be moving forward. Player choice, in combat♏ and narrative terms, was a driving force in last year's biggest success stories – and so with a studio ꦚso well-versed on both fronts at the helm of Avowed, the fantasy-with-firearms role-player already has a lot going for it. From Fallout: New Vegas to South Park: The Stick of Truth, The Outer Worlds, and the Pillars of Eternity series, after all, Obsidian is no stranger to leaving its mark on a tried and tested formula.

"Player choice is really key to all of our games at Obsidian," says Avowed game director Carrie Patel. "And for us, that is really about letting the player build and express their character. It's about who they want t🥃o be in the fantastical worlds we build, and the dilemmas and challenges we put in front of the player. I personally find that to be really effective in games where you have some sort of starting premise that prompts ro✨leplay and gives you something to make difficult choices around."

Combat and "Combinatorics"

As a first-person, open-zoned action RPG, Obsidian brings years of experience to Avowed, with the game itself set in the fictional world of Eora, a realm first introduced in the studio's Pillars of Eternity series. Sent to the Living Lands to investigate a spreading🌸 plague, it becomes immediately clear there's more to the untamed island setting than meets the eye – not least an ancient blight that threatens to destroy the land and everything that inhabits it. In response, you'll wield swords, shields, guns and grimoires as you (and a band of recruitable c🍎ompanions) hack and slash and conjure spells in your bid to save the day. 

A distinct focus on player choice underpins all of the above, which, of course, plays to Obsidian's expertise. The essence of this, Patel explains, is making the player constantly ask themselves: Who do I want to be? Be that in the face of the game's more thoughtful philosophical and political quandaries, or simply when working out the most logical conclusion to a questline, Avowed aims to systematically challenge your moral compass. Who can you trust? Where do your loyalties lie? Do you opt for altruism or are you in it solely for yourself? Who do you want to be? 

This dynamic approach to player choice has natural appeal to newcomers, but anyone familiar with the developer's back catalog already has an idea of what to expect. Flirting with diplomacy is always an option in Obsidian games, but quite often things are settled by force in the throes of the studio's fantastical sprawls – and Av🔴owed pays clear deference to the latter with a real-time mix-and-match approach to magic, melee, mid and long range combat.  

"At Obsidian, it's your world, your way, right?" says gameplay director Gabe Paramo. "We want to give the player the freedom with the dual wielding system. You know, with combinations – or 'combinatorics' as I call it; people make fun of me for using this term. It's being able to put a pistol in my right hand and a shield in my offhand. I'm blocking and I'm firing. It's the choice and consequence with thing🥀s like, I'm using a dagger that's quick and it's more silent, and I'm using a pistol that's loud and has a little bit of a reload recovery time on it. It's giving the players these tools that let them sort of choose okay, 'what do I want to do here?' And there's pros and cons to all the choices that I make and there is no one perfect build, there's gonna be, 🗹again, choice and consequence for what you kit out with your character."

To this end, Obsidian aims to increase the fluidity of this choice in combat by allowing yꦦou to respec your character at any time. The overa🃏rching aim here is to help you avoid feeling locked into any particular fighting style, and likewise allow you to adapt in the face of new challenges. Environmental obstacles encourage Skyrim-esque ingenuity, whereby fire magic may be required to melt ice or burn through brambles blocking the way, or where heavy weapons are needed to break through barriers. When you combine all of this with the split-second decision-making that's required in the heat of battle, the multifaceted importance of choice in Avowed becomes crystal clear. 

"We put a lot of energy and time into our animation blending systems, too," Paramo co𝓡ntinues.♍ "Shout out to Max Matzenbacher, our senior combat designer, for what he calls 'bookends', which are just your range of giving things space. So, it's not about making every single weapon powerful, but there are trade-offs to each weapon, like the wind-up time versus the recovery time, making them feel like you're holding them properly, and what they look like in view." 

"So, again, I think a lot of the challenges are just the permutations and creating the design that actually cannot over-bloat our animations and still be very flexible. [On our end] it's about ensuring player freedom, mꩲaking sure the game looks good enough, and fits within the budgets that we have."

Standing on the shoulders of giants 

More than choice-driven narrative and combat features, though, the fact that morality likewise underpins so much of Avowed's inner-workings is interesting. From the outside looking in, separating all three seems impossible, which for me only adds to the appeal of getting lost in its world. As a lon𒉰g-standing Fallout: New Vegas player, I loved playing factions off one another, currying favor with some proper deplorable characters in order to get my way, while double-crossing just about everyone so long as it suited my end goals. This is clearly an indictment on my personal playstyle, but it's reassuring to know that Avowed targets similar levels of breadth in depth in the moment-to-moment decision-making that shapes its open-zoned world beyond firefights and storytelling. 

"Our approach to ඣchoice and consequences is to eschew a black-and-white, good-versus-evil morality scale, where the moral balance of your decision is very obvious – but rather something that feels closer to life, where sometimes it's not obvious or sometimes the right choice feels obvious, but the outcome can be surprising; justified but surprising," says Patel. "So I feel that, as a designer, I enjoy challenging, and as a player, I enjoy being challenged in that regard; where I really get to chew on something complicated and kind of make and explore those decisions in the relatively safe environment of a game." 

"And when I think about some of the quests and dilemmas that I still hear players talking about years later – like I think Legion's loyalty quest in Mass Effect 2 is particularly famous for this – it's those choices that people really had to think about," Patel continues. "And that's I think what kind of binds them a little more to their characters, their avatar in the world. And also the characters and companions that they're sharing this journey with, because you're like, 'oh, man, we went through this together'🦋."

Paramo reiterates just how intrinsic those moral choices can be in gameplay terms, from the gear you wear to the abilities and weapons you choose to wield. Where world-building and choice come together most against Obsidian's experience, it seems, is t𝔍he fact that Avowed builds upon the world of Eora – the same fantastical lands found in the developer's 🌺Pillars of Eternity series. In combat, you can leverage familiar spells from the Pillars games, such as Into the Fray to pull characters in different directions, however it is worth noting no prior experience of Eora is required to enjoy yourself in The Living Lands.  

🦋Patel continues: "You really don't need to know anything about the previous Pillars games, and you certainly don't need to have played them to enjoy Avowed. For players who have they're certainly some familiar concepts, bits of world building, and even a few returning characters that they might recognize, but we wanted to make sure that players coming to it for the first time will have a good time."

"There's always a balance there, because you don't want to info-dump on the player just when they're really trying to get their feet wet in the world. But at the same time, you don't want them to feel adrift. So there's a delicate balance between introducing new concepts and pieces of the world to players, doing it in a way that lets them opt in. And you know, for a simple example, ask more questions in a dialogue, if they want to know about it, but also just move on. If they're like, 'Yeah, I get it, like I can put together from the context what this is, and I don't need the details.'"

"There's ⭕also a system that our team is working on integrating into Avowed right now that we first had the Tyranny and we also used an Deadfire, which is lore tooltips, where for a particular name or piece of lore, when it comes up in a dialogue, or ෴in a piece of written text, you can kind of hover over it and get the little summary, like, what is The Living Lands? Oh, okay, now I get it, and it doesn't otherwise interrupt the flow of what you're doing."

The vow

Clearly, Avowed is an ambitious undertaking. It's inspired by its creators' collective wealth of fantastical world-building experience, and it enters the R𝓰PG fray at a time when the genre is firing on all cylinders. The game's commitment to putting the player at the center of everything it does is admirable, but the developer knows promises on this side of release mean very little without something of substance backing them up at ꦇthe other end. 

For Patel, the thought of players getting to grips with Avowed's sophisticated combat system while enjoying the freedom of speccing out their characters as they move through the game is what excites her most at this juncture. Leveraging its classless system, Patel expects (and encourages) players to mix-and-match the specifics of their favorite builds in Avowed – be that from a more archetypal standpoint of big swords and heavy shields; or from a more outlandish perspective, such as gun-slinging mages – it's these idiosyncratic variables that she can't wait to see player༒s mess around wit🐼h first-hand.

For Paramo, being able to show off more to players in the coming months keeps him𒁃 inspired, as does the thought of responding to feedback and iterating on elements throughout the last stretch of development. At the time of writing, Avowed boasts a tenuous "Fall 2024" release window, and Paramo is keen to continue pushing for greater transparency right up until launch. 

And for me? Avowed is, of course, also an Xbox console-exclusive. Which means that if it does get it right, whenever it lands in "Q4 2024", it could be the reason people like myself finally acquire an 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Series X console. My gaming laptop might make it over the line in this instance, but as games get incessantly bigger and increasingly resource-heavy, the allure of Game Pass on the couch inevitably becomes harder to ignore. Combine this with everything Avowed is promising this side of release – not least sophisticated player choice across its narrative and combat, a dynamic combat system that bends toꦆ the player's whims, and the wealth of experience Obsidian boasts in all of the above – and this choice-driven action-RPG could be one of 2024's standout games. Avowed has all the ingredients to make it work, and Obsidian is more than capable of mixing them in the correct order.  

Look out for Part Two of our behind the scenes Avowed coverage on Monday, where we speak to Obsidian about how choice impacts exploration in the upcoming RPG 

Obsidian Enꦜtertainment's Josh Sawyer - who also happens to be the director behind Fallout: New Vegas, Pentiment, and Pillar of Eternity - kicked off the discussion on , when he attributed the death of isometric RPGs to the influence that retailers had on the games industry in the early 2000s. Essentially, Sawyer's point is that retailers would create self-fulfilling prophecies and lower stocks for games in certain genres, thus leading to a lack of sales, rather than the reverse. 

"BioWare made Baldur's Gate, which sold well, and [Baldur's Gate 2] sold very well. Black Isle made Icewind 🅷Dale, which also sold well, but after BioWare announced Neverwinter Nights, retailers decided that 2D iso games were dead,” Sawyer recalls. “Temple of Elemental Evil was the last for a long time.”

Sawyer claims that he'd often hear sales representatives “declare a genre/style/look was dead with zero supporting🌜 data,” leading to reduced stocks in said genre, obviously leading to lower sales. "Truly vibes-based forecasting, which resulted in self-fulfilling prophecies," Sawyer continues. 

BioWare's former lead writer David Gaider also gave his persp✱ective on the problem.꧙ "It wasn't just retailers," Gaider . "There’s an 'industry wisdom' which creeps into dev teams where some things are simply declared dead or too old-fashioned, and there's no opposing this certainty up until someone else comes along and proves it's 100% untrue."

Isometric RPGs may have suffered from a lull period, triggered by seemingly nonsensical sales forecasts, but the subgenre is now more popular than it's ever been thanks to Baldur's Gate 3's smashing success. Larian Studios staff have said they hope other teams canꦇ point publishers to Baldur’s Gate 3 to chase fun🌊ding for other, weirder RPGs. Josh Sawyer himself has said he's open to making a thir𒉰d isometric Pilla🍌rs of Eternity game, as long as there's a Baldur's Gate 3-sized ꦏbudget atta🍸ched. 

Want more? See our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best RPGs list to find other greats in the genre.

The new patch, currently only available on the beta b𝔍ranch for Steam, doesn’t bring any major features or unexpected changes. The instead lists several bug fixes, ironing out audio issues, misdirecting quest objectives, and other pesky problems. Studio design director Josh Sawyer that the team couldn’t backport much-requested features over from the sequel, like a turn mode, because of problems with the game engine Unity 4. 

Why update an almost ten-year-old game that isn’t currently in the limelight? Well, Avowed, the studio’s first-person take on the fa🍎ntasy setting, is scheduled to release this year, and perhaps the team wants tꦦo smooth out the original game for newcomers stepping into Eora for the very first time. 

There’s also the fact that Baldur’s Gate 3 courted more atten💧tion than any top-down RPG in at least a decade, with a surprisingly strong commercial performance succeeded by endless game of the year awards. Once the Forgotten Realms’ story is over, Baldur’s Gate 3 graduates might be hunting for similar games and the Pillars of Eternity duology are sure to blip on their radar. 

Overall, newcomers have reasons aplenty to return or discover Eora in 2024, and this new update is likely just Obsidian thinking ahead rather than teasing something else. With that said, Josh Sawyer recently revealed that 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史ꦑ查询:he would be open to mak൲ing Pillars of Eternity 3, but onl𝄹y with a Baldur’s Gate 3 budget. Fingers crossed we see a PoE resurgence soon, then.

Already played Pillars? Why not check out the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:25 best RPGs to get your role-playing fix?

Obsidian's Honey I Shrunk The Kids remix has spent the last ꦰyear refining the core bug-squashing, base-building loop. But now the team is ready to hand things off to the community in the Make It And Break It update coming on November 13. 

The upcomꦗing update brings something called the Playgrounds mode, which sounds similar to other custom-level editors like Halo's Forge. Essentially, you can place an unlimited number of buildings, obstacles, critters, and more around the pre-existing backy📖ard or an entirely empty sandbox. The team has supposedly already built a functioning wave-based Coliseum and a sound-based puzzle using the tools on offer - just to give us a taste of what's possible.

"This feature has been on the backlog for a very long time," says game director Adam Brennecke in an interview with . "Giving people the opportunity to extend the lifetime of the games they enjoy is always really cool, which was♓ very important to us. We've always wanted to see what the community can make with these tools."

Brennecke also says tha෴t the modding community was incredibly influential to the Playgrounds mode: "That's the power of mods, you never know❀ what's going to happen. We're going to provide the tools, and someone's going to make something magical that others might get attached to, and we have no idea what that might be."

Adding such a mode has been a big boon for fellow Xbox exclusive Halo Infinite, which recently saw an i𝕴nflux of MOBA modes, Pokemon arena simulations, and Kaijua versus Spartan events. I'm more than excited to see similarly wacky creations crop up in Obsidian's garden, too. All-out bee warfare? Horror mazes stuffed with spiders? We'll🔯 see what the community dreams up on November 13.

Despite the inevitable zaniness to come, Grounded is still a purely terrifying experience.

As revealed in part 5 of Obsidian's 20th-anniversary documentary, Avowed was almost a very different game as its developers wanted it to have a multiplayer aspect at one point. "When I look back at 20 years, there's decisions that of mine that I feel really good ab🤪out, and there's decisions that I feel not so good about," Feargus Urq🌳uhart, Obsidian's studio head, says in the documentary.

"One of the things where I really pushed was that Avowed was going to be multiplayer," Urquhart adds, "and I kept on that for a long time, and I think in the end - not I think, I know - in the end it was the wrong decision to keep on p🍃ushing on it." The studio founder explains that at the time, Obsidian was still an independent studio, and it wanted to sell it as "a more interesting game" to publishers. 

"When you're asking for 50, 60, 70, 80 million you&a⛎pos;ve got to have something interesting to talk about - and multiplayer made it interesting," Urquhart con𒆙tinues. 

It wasn't just the studio's fo💟under that had things to say about Avowed's possible multiplayer, Justin Britch (head of development at Obsidian) talked more about the studio's decision to change Avowed to a single-player RPG: "We were too focused on co-op and we were too focused on changing the way our pipelines work and the way that we write conversations and the way we do quests and everything else."

Britch continues: "After working on it for a little bit, we realized that we weren't 💦focused on the🌺 things that we're best at and so we made a pivot on the game basically, to refocus really and make sure that it was, at the end of the day, an Obsidian game and not something different."

Seeing as Avowed is being described as "澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:a very silly Skyrim," it makes a lot of sense why Obsidian wanted to refocus the team and create a single-player experience instead. Before you get too excited about a new Skyrim-like game, the team has previously revealed that Avowed isn't aiming for an open world as big as Skyrim's. 

Avowed is set to launch on 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Xbox Game Pass so♚metime in 2024 - we're still waiting for that all-important release date. 

While we wait, find out what else the studio is working on with our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Obsidian games list. 

Honestly, I'm relieved. Up until the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Games Showcase, you could say that I've always been a little Avowed curious. It's the first AAA RPG from the genre-masters at Obsidian Entertainment, following its acquisition into the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Studios fold in 2018. Beloved for its work on♍ Alpha Protocol, Fallout: New Vegas, and The Outer Worlds, there's real electricity to the idea of Obsidian working on an Xbox Series X exclusive RPG𓆉 – and receiving all of the first-party funding and support that comes with such an ambitious endeavour. 

Offsetting that excitement has been this tinge of trepidation. Microsoft Gaming does, after all,  have a point to prove this generation. Would Obsidian feel pressure to build a bigger playground than it ever has before, or a need to challenge the titans of the fantasy-RPG genre? 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt are excellent open-worl🐟d games, but so large that I'm not entirely convinced that they have scripted endings – at this point, I'm too afraid to ask. 

That's not what I'm lookinಞg for from Avowed, or from Obsidian. Historically, the studio does its best work within clearly-defined boundaries, and I see increasing 📖value in experiences which don't take your time, energy, or attention for granted. Thankfully, the magic worlds which have caused all my fears to dissipate: "[Avowed] is set up as a series of interconnected open zones which players can explore at their own pace." 

Size really does matter

Avowed 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:isn't set in an open-world, and it's the best news that could have come out of the Xbox Games Showcase. Patel has compared the size and structure of Avowed to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2. Admittedly, there's a widening gap between those two role-playing games, but it means you're likely 🍸looking at ཧan adventure with a ceiling of around 25 hours if you want to experience a story with a beginning, middle, and end. 

Obsidian says it's building enough distraction into Avowed that your investment can scale from there, but I'm overjoyed to learn that it's being built with rec🌊ognition that time is our most valuable resource. "You can invest in discovering every nook-and-cranny in the world, discovering every secret, finding every side-quest, meeting every character – or you can have a much more focused experience. It's fully up to players how much time they want to spend in the Living Lands."

The Living Lands is described as a "plagued, wild island" set in the fantasy-world of Eora – a realm underpinned by adventure, choice, and consequence. Obsidian has a penchant 𝔉for building memorable worlds, and the decision to focus on establishing a series of more densely-packed playspace can only be seen as a strength. It heightens the chance that we'll encounter a richer, and more visually-diverse set of biomes, each as weird and wonderful as the next – full of fantastical flora, sentient fauna, and a vast array of corrupted enemies to battle throughout. 

Something I really appreciate about The Outer Worlds was how its tighter game worlds ultimately helped combat encounters feel more authored, and made each of my decisions feel more widely impactful. Hopefully we'll see the same here with Avowed, particularly with Obsidian stretching for such an expressive companion and comba🎶t system – with swords, spellcraft, and dual-wi♍elding pistols at the heart of it. 

There's obviously so much more of Avowed that we still need to see, but right now I'm just happy that with this 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Obsidian game, the studio is being allowed to pla🌠y to its strengths in a first-party sett𒀰ing. 

Avowed is one of the headline 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Xbox Series X games set to release in 2024. It's also expected to land on PC and be available on day one with 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Pass. 

"It's going to be roughly comparable to something like Knights of the Old Republic 2 or The Outer Worlds," game director Carrie Patel said during the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Games Showcase Extended stream. "It is set up as a series of interconnected open zones that players can explore at their own pace. You can invest in discovering every nook and cranny in the world, discovering e♚very secret, finding every sidequest, meeting every character - or you can have a much more focused experience. It's really up to players and how much time they want to spend in The Living Lands, but I'm hopeful they're going to spend a lot of time with us once Avowed releases."

So despite Avowed's first-person viewpoint and fantasy trappings, this 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:i⛎sn't Obsidian's take on Skyrim - or even something in the spirit of theﷺ studio&apo🐈s;s beloved Fallout: New Vegas.. A KOTOR 2 playthrough typically lands in the 30-40 hour range, while the much more recent The Outer Worlds lands at an even leaner 15-30 hours, depending on how many sidequests you partake in.

Patel also confirmed that Avowed will have c🥀ompanion characters who'll join you on the adventure, including Kai, the blue-green scaly man we saw in the trailer. You can check out the full video above - it's particularly worthwhile if you're interested in how Avowed connects with the Pillars of Eternity universe.

Obsidian's pedigree certainly suggests Avowed could rank among the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best RPGs out there.

With so many exciting 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Xbox Series X games in the pipeline, there are certainly plenty of big 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Series X exclusives we're dying to see more. With Xbox head Phil Spencer confirming we can expect some new projects and updates on games we already know about, and some teases of what may pop up, we've put toget🌺her a list of all of our Xbox Games Showcase 2023 predictions. 

Perfect Dark reboot

It's been two years since the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Perfect Dark reboot was announced, and with precious little to go on since, I think Xbox Games Showcase 2023 owes us more than a temperature check. The stunning trailer we saw at Game Awards 2020 whet our appetites for more, presenting the first-person spy thriller in a whole new 𝔍light. It was looking excellent before, but we've seen nothing new since Tomb Raider vets Crystal Dynamics signed on as co-developers. I'm keen to see♛ how Perfect Dark is shaping as Crystal sets its sights on a new action heroine that needs a modern day makeover.

Avowed

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Avowed was first announced back in E3 2020, with a trailer showing us a brief glimpse of the new first-person RPG from 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Fallout: New Vegas and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds developer, Obsidian. Taking place in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity, Avowed immediately piqued our interest thanks to its magic runed-powered combat system and the fantasy setting of Eora. Since it's initial revealed, we've yet to see or learn much more about the project beyond the fact that it's 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:said to feature firearms. But after a report surfaced last year that suggested it's "nearly playable", perhaps the forthcoming Xbox Games Showcase will finally update us on this anticipated 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Obsidian game. 

Hellblade 2

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga is another big Xbox exclusive that we expect to see more during the showcase. After it was first revealed back in 2019, we've previously seen concept art, trailers, and even some gameplay of the sequel in action just last year. A tech demo showing off the impressive visual fidelity of Unreal Engine 5 was also released from developer Ninja Theory, but it's been relatively quiet on the news front since. What has yet to be announced🃏 is a release date, and we can't help but wonder if this could at long last be confirmed during the showcase in the coming days. While that remains to🎉 be seen, it feels like a safe bet that Senua will make an appearance at some point. 

Gears 6 

Gears 5 released back in 2019, and fans have been waiting for another installment ever since. Interestingly, rumors surrounding Gears 6 have been circulating for some time. Developer The Coalition released a character rendering test to showcase the power of next-gen on Unreal Engine 5 , before a leaker suggested we could see a new Gears of War game release in 2024-2025. A year later, the same character popped up in another Unreal Engine 5 reveal, which could seemingly gave us an idea of what Gears of War 6 could look like in terms of visual fidelity. Most recently, reporter Jeff Grubb claimed on a podcast that The Coalition had cancelled multiple smaller projects that weren't Gears of War-related, which has left fans feeling optimistic over the series' future. Perhaps the Xbox Games Showcase will set the stage for an official Gear♏s 6 reveal at long last. 

Fable 4

We weren't expecting to hear much from the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Fable 4 developer just yet, but our hearts are all aflutter now that Xbox teased Fable's presence at its 2023 showcase. The cryptic tweet that has everyone buzzing depicts an Xbox controller covered in glitter, underscored by a whimsical piece of music reminiscent of the original 2004 game's soundtrack. This is in no way confirmation outright, but given that game producer Vijay Gill hinted back in February that 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the new Fable game is in a playable state already, the suspicions could be justified. Personally, I can't wait to get back to Albion in all its medieval fantasy glory. Fable has one of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:my favorite morality systems of any game serie🍎s ever, so it's safe to say that if Playground Games don't show up with something meaningful on Sunday after such a tantalizing tease, I'﷽m going to eat my sword. 

Everwild 

Announced four years ago, the developer team at Rare has given us just a few wistful glimpses of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Everwild. The magic of its lush setting is already palpable from the two cinematic trailers we've seen so far – just look at those cuddling up to each other! It's a departure from Rare's flagship IP Sea of Thieves, trading ocean exploration for magical beasts, beings called Eternals, and a truly ethereal new world of its own. Reports surfaced back in 2021 that 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Everwild had essentially been rebooted, now with a whose past credentials include some of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best horror games. This led to speculation that it could see a release date sometime this year, so we'd love to count Everwild among our list of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games for 2023 should Rare surprise us with new i🔴ntel, gameplay footage, or maybe even a confirmed launch date at Sunday's Xbox Show꧃case.

Check out the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Xbox Series X games to dive into as we cross our fingers for these predictions to come true.

Updates to Steam apps are typically publicly visible thanks t𒀰o thir𒐪d-party tools like SteamDB. Among other things, you can see beta and other alternative versions of a game, such as those made available to testers or press ahead of that game's launch, even when those branches are not intended to be available to the public.

A new Fallout 4 branch titled 'newvegas2' . As you might imagine, i𓆏t's causing a bit of a stir. The original New Vegas, a Fallout 3 spin-off developed by the RPG legends at Obsidian, is a standout entry in the series, beloved for its storytelling and its commitment to offering pl🌃ayer choices with meaningful consequences.

This does not mean New Vegas 2 is in development. These branches can be titled anything, because those names are only intended to be seen by the people invited to them. We know Fallout 4 is getting a new-gen update sometime in 2023,ꦿ and there's a decent chance this is just an internal test build of that update with a cheeky name.

We've reached out to Bethesda for comment and will update if we learn more. (Don't worr🌳y, if we somehow get the scoop announcement of New Vegas 2 out of all this, we will certainly publish something about it.)

With all that being said, hopes that we'll someday see New Vegas 2 are not entirely unfounded, as reports have suggested that Microsoft is keen to get such a ga⛄me off the ground. For its part, however, Obsidian has repeatedly said that while the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:idea of retu🌜rning to Fallout is exciting, it's got far too much on it🌺s plate right now to commit to so🍎mething like New Vegas 2.

Sorry folks, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Starfield is likely the closest you're getting to a new Fallout for the foreseeable future.

The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition was announced earlier today ahead of its launch on March 7. This edition of Obsidian's 2019 satirical sci-fi RPG will feature enhanced visuals for next-gen consoles and PC, an increased level cap, and all the previously-released DLC. Even if you already own the original game and DLC, you'll have to spend $10 for the upgrade, and now I'm scratching my head over who, exactly🎃, this release is for.

The Outer Worlds is a fine enough game and I'm happy to see it get an update, but there's a precedent - and I think now an expectation - for next-gen upgrades to be freebies there to generate goodwill for the fra💦nchise. Games like Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima have gotten away with charging for similar upgrades, but both those games also featured substantial new content to sweeten the deal. Even The Last of Us Part 1 might've hewed closely to the original, but at least it was a whole new game from a technical perspec🦂tive.

While Obsidian was bought out by Microsoft prior to the release of The Outer Worlds, both the original game and the Spacer's Choice Edition are published by Private Division, a subsidiary of Take-Two. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds 2 is due out under the Xbox ban🌞ner, uh… eventually.

For more 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Xbox Series X games, you know where to click.

In an interview 🎀with (thanks, )🔯, Sawyer, who worked as project director and lead designer on Fallout: New Vegas, was asked if he could see himself working on another installment in the Fallout franchise. 

In his response, Sawyer describes the experience of making Falꦯlout: New Vegas as "super fulfilling" and "super fantastic" and says he could see himself returning to the series if the opportunity presents itself. "I love Fallout, I love the setting, I could see myself working on it again, but you know, we'll see where the future takes me." 

Sawyer was also quizzed on his dream setting for a Fallout game. He admits that it's not something he's considered for quite some time but thinks a game set in California or the Midwest would be "very interesting". The Fallout: New Vegas director also stresses the importance of finding a setting that the team is passionate about and one that works for the franchise. "When it's part of a larger IP, it has to work within a larger vision of 'what is Fall🉐out?'" Sawyer explains. 

While there's a lot of scope for a Fallou🃏t game set in the US, Sawyer also likes the idea of basing it in other parts of the world. He says, "There are lots of cool opportunities; it really de💮pends on what the moment is and what the team looks like."

Sawyer's stance on returning to the series echoes that of Obsidian co-founder Feargus Urquhart, who 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:last month said, "If we ever got tꩲh🍒e opportunity to make another Fallout game, we'd make it."

While there's no shortage of enthusiasm for a new Obsidian-developed Fallout, if it did become a reality, it would likely be a long way off, as the studio currently has plenty on its plate. Having just launched its brilliant medieval detective adventure 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Pentiment, the team is now hard at work on first-person swords and shields RPG Avowed and sci-fi sequel 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds 2. 

See where your favourite Wasteland ranks in our guide to the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Fallout games. 

If you find yourself searching for something similar to dive into, then some of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best RPGs around are well worth 🔜considering - even if some aren't set in space. Whether you're looking for more adventures with memorable characters, you want to get stuck into more action, or you're looking to explore, there's plenty out there for you.

As our 澳洲幸运5开奖号🃏码历史查询:Mass Effect Legendary Edition review will tell you, the Mass Effect series speaks to BioWare's strengths, with excellent world-building, characters you care about, engaging storylines, and plenty of role-play goodness. And while we await 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Mass Effect 5, now's a great time to see what e🌟lse is out there that you 🉐might enjoy.

Read on below as we take you through our pic💃k of the best games like Mass Effect to get swept up in.

10. Starfield

Developer: Bethesda
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X/S

If you're looking for more space-faring adventures, Bethesda's sprawling, galaxy-spanning RPG could just be the ticket. As a member of the Constellation, you set out in search of answers, but outside of the core story, there are lots of worlds to explore. Those wh🃏o enjoy venturing to alien worlds with companions at your side will also be happy to know that you can also take to the stars with some company. With a host of different followers to get to know and bring along with you, there's also the chance for some romance if you want to develop a relationship with them - although 🉐it's not as in depth as Mass Effect in that regard.

Plus, if you adored being aboard the Normandy and having a place to call your own in space, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Starfield allows you to buy new ships that you can alter to your liking, or even build your own from scratch with its ship builder mechanics. It's not as linear as the later Mass Effect games, of course, but there's plenty here that might speak to you if you're looking to dive into another adventure in space. And with the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Starfield Shattered Space expansion and a slate of updates, now's a💮 great time to consider giving it a go.

For more, check out our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Starfield review.

9. Prey

Developer: Arkane Studios
Available on: PC, PS4, Xbox One

One of the sleeper hits of the PS4/Xbox One generation was Prey, a game that has a die-hard community of loyal fans, just like Mass Effect. Prey is interesting because it haওs a dynamic world that encourages exploration and experimentation with its mechanics. And, much like Mass Effect, Prey features numerous choice-driven scenarios that impact the outcome of the game.

Once again, the story in Prey is excellent, with certain story beats that rival even some of the best films out there. It’s a moody, creepඣy, space game that will likely make you think. Prey is certainly a lot darker and scarier than Mass Effect, but if you’re 🧸looking for something unique, while borrowing some familiar mechanics from other space games, you should absolutely give it a try.

For more, check out our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Prey review.

8. Fallout: New Vegas

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Available on: PC, PS4 (PS Now), Xbox One

While Fallout: New Vegas might not resemble Mas🐼s Effect in aesthetics, the two have a lot more in common than you might think. Fallout: New Vegas is arguably a more polished version of the acclaimed Fallout 3, with lots of branching paths, memorable characters, and quests to embark on. If you’re a fan of Mass Effect’s RPG elements, you’ll be right at home with🔯 Fallout: New Vegas.

This game allows you to build your character exactly how you'🔜d like, with lots of opportunities for replayability. You won’t save the galaxy in Fallout: New Vegas, but it does offer an engaging story that will likely sink its teeth in you. It’s remarkable how well this game holds up, considering it's a decade old at this point.

See why it comes out on top in our ranking of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Fallout games.

7. Greedfall

Developer: Spiders
Available on: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Much like other entries on this list, Greedfall is an action R𒁏PG that prioritizes player choice. In Greedfall, you're able to develop relations🗹hips with different factions, and the one you side with changes the outcome of the story. In fact, there are multiple endings that are both worth experiencing, so it's well worth playing through multiple times.

Greedfall differs from Mass Effect in that it focuses more on melee combat inst🐽ead of shooting, but the action is compelling and will ⭕probably keep you engaged. Tying the whole thing together is a story that has its fair share of twists and turns - perfect for those looking for an interesting narrative.

6. Destiny 2

Developer: Bungie
Available on: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Sure, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Destiny 2 is a live-service shooter that doesn’t seem to have a lot in common with Mass Effect, but after spending time with both series, the similarities are clear. One thing both share is a satisfying progression system, leaning hard into the൲ RPG mechanics th⛄at let you create the character you want.

And of course, Destiny 2 allows you to explore v🎃ari🎶ous unique planets - each with numerous resources to uncover. While the original Destiny was criticized for its narrative, its sequel was much better received in this regard. It’s nowhere near as compelling as Mass Effect, but it's enjoyable enough to warrant a playthrough, for sure.

For more, check out our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Destiny 2 Final Shape review.

5. Cyberpunk 2077

Developer: CD Projekt Red
Available on: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5

You may not be venturing through the stars and meeting (or maybe smooching) aliens that inhabit the universe, but 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Cyberpunk 2077 is a immersive RPG that you might very enjoy when you're ready to step away from Mass Effect. With the chance to cr꧋eate your own custom chara𒁃cter in merc V, you'll get swept up in a memorable adventure across the Night City with a rocker by the name of Johnny Silverhand for company.

Not unlike Mass Effect, you'll meet a host of different characters in the world, and you can even form a romantic relationship with a handful of people you meet if you so wish. With plenty of role-play goodness in store, you can also shape your V to your perferred playstyle in combat and pick dialogue options that let you inject some personality and play to your strengths. With a slate of updates and the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Phantom Liberty expansion, there's never been a better time tꦿo give it a go.

For more, check out our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty review.

4. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Developer: Ubisoft
Available on: PC, PS4, Xbox One

The later Assassin's Creed games doubled down on the RPG systems, giving you more agency over how you build your character. Mass Effect has similar features in place, offering numerous ways to play, and a slew of weapons at your disposal. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Assassin's Creed Odyssey is one of the b🤡est in the series and is the second entry to truly feel like an 𒁃RPG (after Origins).

It's built similarly to Mass Effect, with quests, side-quests, optional romances, lots of different gear, and even includes dialogue options. The various dialogue selections might not be as impactful as they are in Mass Effect, but they function in a similar way - making this game a great alternative after you've finiꦰshed Shepard's adventures.

For more, read our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Assassin's Creed Odyssey review.

3. Baldur's Gate 3

Developer: Larian Studios
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5

While you won't be able to scratch your space or sci-fi itch with Larian's fantasy RPG, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur's Gate 3, has a lot of ingredients that may speak to you if you're a big fan of the Mass Effect series. Shepard's adventures deliver some of the best game stories around, along with strong character development and worldbuilding. Similarly, B♋aldur's Gate 3 also takes you through an engrossing story, which is yours to mold and shape with a host of choices and approaches at your disposal. And not entirely unlike the way to flesh out Shepard through the classes and military profile, you can also select from a myriad of classes, subclasses, and races for your lead protagonist in Larian's RPG.

Baldur's Gate 3 also features a cast of loveable characters you'll enjoy getting to know, and 🤡who will fight and journey alongside you as you head out in the Sword Coast. Just like Mass Effect, you also form romantic relationships if you want to, and each companion has their own story to tell. While the combat is quite different since it plays to D&D rules, and the choices can hinge on a dice roll, there's so much here that you're likely love if you enjoy BꦓioWare's RPGs.

For more, read our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur's Gate 3 review.

2. Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Developer: BioWare
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5

BioWare's latest RPG, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dragon Age: The Veilguard, is a great option for anyone out there that's looking for more games like Mass Effect. Not only does it feature a lot of the same element🙈s as the space-faring RPGs, but it also draws inspiration from Mass Effect 2 for its approach to some 🅘of its quests. In fact, there's a lot of similarities when it comes to overall structure, too. With a cast of companions you can get to know and romance, you set off to face ancient elven gods and go up against impossible odds together. Naturally that means there are some risks involved, not unlike the memorable suicide mission in ME 2.

And scaling back from the open-world approach of Dragon Age: Inquisition, The Veilguard spins a more linear story that takes you to different open-zone locations. As the same developer behind both RPG series, it's well worth checking out an♋yone of the Dragon Age games if you haven't already, but The Veilguard has a lot of ingredients that tap into the Mass Effect series strengths.

Read our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dragon Age: The Veilguard review for more.

1. The Outer Worlds

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Available on: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series ꦑX/S, Nintendo Swit𒈔ch

The Outer Wor🙈lds shares similarities with many beloved franchises, but it’s hard to overlook how much it has in common with Mass Effect, specifically. Most notably, The Outer Wilds sends you to a slew of planets to meet various characters who hꦰave a wide range of personalities. Choice is at the heart of this game, much like Mass Effect, so you’ll have plenty of reasons to replay it multiple times.

It’s got a little bit of everything - action, a witty, lovable cast, and a story that you’ll likely fall in love with. One thing The Outer Worlds does fantastically is the way it encourages exploration, with tons of items and resources hidden around every nook and cranny. This is not one to skip if you have to 🌸have more Mass Effect in your life.

For more check out our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds review.

If you're a fan of BioWare, it could also be worth checking out 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:games like Dragon Age.

We've already seen some amazing adventures arrive this year, which our list of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best games of 2025 so far highlights. With everything from the likes of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, to Avowed and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Doom: The Dark Ages, you can see what we thought of one of the latest releases in our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Alters review.

But with the recent 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Games showcase 2025 giving us plenty of reveals and updates on future releases, as well as a deep-dive look at two 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Obsidian games that are set to land this year, there's a lot more to come. From 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox exclusives to lots of exciting third-party releases and plenty that's set to launch on 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Pass day ⛎one, we've brought together the all of the biggest upcoming Xbox Series X games in one place and put them in order of release date so you know what to watch out for first.

All upcoming Xbox Series X games to keep an eye on

2025

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4

Developer: Iron Galaxy Studios
Release date: July 11, 2025
Game Pass: Yes

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 are making a comeback this year, with a shiny re-release t🐈hat brings additional skaters, new parks, and fresh tricks to the experience, along with plenty of music tracks to shred to on your preferred board. Happily, the games will also be coming to Game Pass day one, so you can ju🔯mp right in.

Shadow Labyrinth

Release date: July 18, 2025
Developer: Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
Game Pass: TBC

Ever wanted a PAC-MAN game that's a dark sci-fi 2D action platformer? Well, you’re in luck because Shadow Labyrinth is coming out in July this year. In this new Xbox game, you'll play as the "Swordsman No. 8" who must n🍌avigate a cyberpunk setting with the help of a trusty yellow floating orb named PUCK. Engage in fast paced combat, explore levels and consume your enemies to grow your power. Thanks to gameplay trailers, we also know that in this upcoming title you can combine with PUCK, turning you into a dangerous PAC-MAN hybrid. Cool, right?

Killing Floor 3

Release date: July 24, 2025
Developer: Tripwire Interactive
Game Pass: TBC

The king of zombie horde shooters is back. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Killing Floor 3 is the next instalment in Tripwire's legendary F𝕴PS series, and it's got more zombie-blasting bullet-busting action than you can shake an AK-47 at. All of your favorite grotesque ZEDs are making a grand return, with some new fꦡaces in tow for good measure. Guns will also be fully moddable this time around, meaning it'll be time to get extra creative with your zombie slaying.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

Release date: July 24, 2025
Developer: Lenzee
Game Pass: Yes

We've been waiting for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:more Wuchang: Fallen Feathers news since its reveal in 2024, and last October's Xbox Partner Showc🧔ase delivered. Thanks to its latest trailer, we now know that we'll be vi🧔siting a fantasy-tinged Ming Dynasty as the titular Wuchang, a pirate who must fight in brutal soulslike combat to save (or doom) the land of Shu. With a day one Game Pass launch.

Tales of the Shire 

Release date: July 29, 2025
Developer: Wētā Workshop
Game Pass: TBC

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Tales of the Shire is the cozy game that every Middle-earth fan has been waiting for. In the new Xbox game you'll get to live out your hobbit life as you farm, cook, and throw dinner parties for the rest of the folk in Bywater. The concept of Tales of the Shire alone has the potential to make it one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Lord of the Rings games that we've seen in recent years. However, during our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Tales of the Shire preview, we did notice that it wasn'🅰t quite perfect yet and that it still is a bit fetch-quest heavy. Hopefully, we'll see Tales of the Shire reaching its true hairy foot potential come July 2025.

Grounded 2

Release date: July 29, 2025
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Game Pass: Yes

Surprise! If you thought Obsidian had its hands full with The Outer Worlds 2, here's a twist: it's had 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded 2 cooking this whole time, and we'll be able to jump into its minituarized adventure as soon as next month. From its debut trailer, it looks like we'll be exploring far beyond The Backyard – and we'll have buggies to explore the sequel's new park setting. It all looks very promising, although it won't be a walk in the park – Obsidian has teased something that 🔯speaks to the player on their journey, and it's waiting for the r𝔍ight time to strike. Best not to think about, maybe?

Metal Eden

Release date: Summer 2025
Developer: Reikon Games
Game Pass: TBC

Xbox players who love to play sci-fi FPS games have a treat coming their way, with the upcoming game, Metal Eden. Metal Edan follows a Hyper 🉐Unit Aska, who are sent on a suicide mission to try and save their citizens. However, when they end up on Moebius, an orbital city filled with bots, they are met with chaos. From clips and trailers for this upcoming title we've seen plenty of bright colors, cy🎐bernetic warfare and fast gameplay on display. It looks like a wild, fun time and should be on your radar if you love blasting things with digital guns.

Mafia: The Old Country

Release date: August 8, 2025
Developer: Hangar 13
Game Pass: TBC

Gritty historical action-adventures exactly your style? Gear up for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Mafia: The Old Country, because it's already looking set to blow our tiny minds. Transporting players back in time to 1900s Sicily, this narrative-heavy peek into Italian-American gang culture will bring us "back to the roots 🗹of what fans love about the Mafia series." Set to deliver a linear experience that explores a "thrilling narrative", we'll be following the story of Enzo🔜, as we delve into the origins s of organized crime.

Dying Light: The Beast

Release date: August 22, 2025
Developer: Techland
Game Pass: TBC

Get ready for some zombie action because Kyle Crane is making a comeback in the new game 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dying Light: The Beast. Initially, this new Xbox game started as a DLC for Dying Light 2 before morphing into a standalone title. From what we've seen from the game's trailer, we know that players will control a super-powered Crane (who has been infected with zombie DNA) as he sets out on a quest for revenge. Currently, this 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming horror game is set to drop on August!

Gears of War: Reloaded

Release date: August 26, 2025
Developer: The Coalition
Game Pass: Yes

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Gears of War: Reloaded is an upcoming re🎃master of the original Gears of War game that is a must-play if you love shooters and hardcore sci-fi stori💦es. Not only has this iconic title been enhanced for next-gen consoles, but it comes with all the post-launch DLC and extra content found in the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. It's being described as the "definitive way to experience" Gears of War by Xbox, so if you're a fan of the franchise, it'll be an August release worthy of your attention.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

Release date: August 28, 2025
Developer: Konami
Game Pass: TBC

News of Konami's MGS3 remake caused major hype when 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater was announced as part of the PlayStation Showcase 2023. The game is said to be a faithful reimagining of the 2004 action title, and with no platform exclusivity, we can expect to see it on Xbox Series X in the not-too-distant future. We know that an August 28 release date has been confirmed, and we loved what we've played so far, though, saying in our澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: Metal Gear Del💃ta: Snakeꦯ Eater hands-on preview that it's "shaping up to be the definitiv✨e way to experience Big Boss' origins."

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

Release date: August 28, 2025
Developer: SEGA
Game Pass: TBC

Do you love platformers? Do you love beautifully drawn games about ninjas? Well, look no further because Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is the new Xbox game for you. Revealed during the last PlayStation State of Play showcase, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a 2D action platformer helmed by the creators of Streets of Rage 4. You'll play as the ninja Shinobi Joe Musashi, who sets out on a quest for vengeance after finding his village destroyed. From trailers that we've seen so far, the upcoming Xbox game looks stunning and seems like a great 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:game like Hollow Knight to keep you busy this August.

Hell is Us

Release date: September 4, 2025
Developer: Rogue Factor
Game Pass: TBC

Hell is Us may just be one of the most stylish upcoming Xbox games on the horizon. In this semi-open world action-adventure game, you will have to explore a world that’s still reeling from the effects of a mysterious calamity. Discover secrets and hack your way through enemies and you seek to uncover the truth of the land. Theಞre’s no map, compass, or quest tracker marker here so you’ll have to dive fully into the unknown. It looks amazing from what we’ve seen so far, so we don’t mind the possibility of getting lost in Hell is Us.

Borderlands 4

Release date: September 12, 2025
Developer: Gearbox Software
Game Pass: TBC

At 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024, we got the biggest reveal of the year: 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Borderlands 4 is coming out in 2025. Yep, that's right, we are getting some more loote🐻r shooter action. However, we won't be returning to Pandora this time around. Instead, players will explore new alien planets as they hunt for treasure and blast their way through waves of enemies. We can't wait, and this is easily one of our favorite upcoming Xbox Series X games to keep track of.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

Release date: September 25, 2025
Developer: Sega
Game Pass: TBC

Sonꦆic Racing: CrossWorlds is bringing the famous blue hedgehog on the road, in the air, and across the sea for a new racing game that sees you warp through travel rings to new dimensions, compete against players worldwide in online modes, or speed your way through offline modes. W🎀ith items to cause chaos, lots of Sega characters will be getting behind the wheel, including Persona 5's Joke and Yakuza: Like A Dragon's Ichiban.

Directive 8020

Release date: October 2, 2025
Developer: Supermassive Games
Game Pass: TBC

If you are a fan of some of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best horror movies like The🀅 Thing or Alien, then Supermassive Games' upcoming Xbox outing, Directive 8020, will be right up your street. Releasing this October, The Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology developer will be throwing players into a story revolving around an alien who mimics its prey. You'll be playing a🅷s the crew of a colony ship who have to use their wits to try and survive. This seems like the perfect way to get into the Halloween season mood, and honestly, we can't wait to be spooked once this launches.

Keeper

Release date: October 17, 2025
Developer: Double Fine
Game Pass: Yes

Keeper from Psychonauts developer Double Fine is a third-person puzzle adventure set in an atmospheric island. Said to explore a story told without words, y🥃ou take on the role of🔯 a lighthouse that still stands on the shore. With limbs jutting out of its weathered form, you'll set out to on a journey towards the center of the island with a seabird for company.

Jurassic World Evolution 3

Release date: October 21, 2025
Developer: Frontier
Game Pass: TBC

Jurassic World Evolution 3 is bringing the dino-filled simulation serie🐽s back in a new entry that is set to include a variety of new enhancements, including dinosaur families, intuitive park management tools, and much more. Oh, and Jeff Goldblum is back as Dr. Ian Malcom, who narrated the official announcement trailer.

Ninja Gaiden 4

Release date: October 21, 2025
Developers: PlatinumGames Inc. / Team NINJA
Game Pass: Yes

One of the most iconic hack and slash ninja series is making a come back in 2025. That's right 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Ninja Gaiden 4 was announced during the Xbox Developer Direct 2025 showcase and introduced fans to the next chapter in the story. This time 🎐we'll be primarily following the brand-new ninja Yakumo, with the legendary Ryu Hayabusa also r𓆉eturning but not as the sole protagonist this time round.

The Outer Worlds 2

Release date: October 29, 2025
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Game Pass: Yes

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds 2 is set to bring us a fresh adventure in the setting of Arcadia, with a new colony that's said to be known for its "skip drive technology". This time around, we'll be taking on the role of the of🍎 an Earth Directorate agent who's sent out to investigate the source of strange rifts that threaten the galaxy. Once again, Obsidian promises to put player choice at the forefront, meaning you can shape your own journey and decide how you help - or don't help - the new cast of companions that will be joining you.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 

Release date: October 2025
Developer: The Chinese Room
Game Pass: TBC

The original game was a slightly ramshackle but beloved cult classic that was more or less ‘Deus Ex but Vampires.’ This takes the same idea but updates it to a modern setting where 'The Masquerade' - the rules by which vampires stay hidden - has been broken upheaving the brittle peace between numerous factions, each with different skills and abilities. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码𒁏历史查询:Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodﷺlines 2 is about crafting a supernatural character whos🔜e abilities shape your approach to its open missions - you can fight, sneak, or talk your way through a world of turf wars, subterfuge, and political machinations with your actions affecting everyone around you.

TBC 2025

Marathon

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: Bungie
Game Pass: TBC

A classic extraction shooter is getting a fresh lick of paint, as Bungie pivots from its Destiny 2 and Halo IPs to revive this 90s gunslinger. The announcement trailer for Marathon shows a litany of brightly-suited characters wielding some impressive weapons, looking not unlike battle royale hero shooters akin to Fortnite or ⛄Apex Legends.

Cronos: The New Dawn

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: Bloober Team
Game Pass: Yes

Bloober Team is back and, feeling fresh from its time with 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Silent Hill 2, it has another 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming horror game in the works foဣr us. Cronos: The New Dawn feels like the D𓆉ead Space 2 remake we haven't got yet, offering all the deep space terrors and grisly body horror a third-person shooter fan could ask for. Even better: Cronos looks set to come to Xbox Game Pass as a day-one entry, and with a Fall release date in the pipeline, get ready to celebrate Halloween in terrifying style.

High on Life 2

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: Squanch Games
Game Pass: Yes

The zany and off-kilter High on Life packing some surprisingly fun FPS action in to go alongside its irreverent Rick and Morty-esque humor, silly gun designs packing personality and a dodge system emphasizing momentum. High on Life 2 continues t꧟o push things further in this direction, really leaning on that momentum with a reveal trailer that centers almost entirely around first-person skateboarding. Still packing plenty of strange weapons, we can't wait to see how speedy this colorful blaster can get.

Little Nightmares 3

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: Supermassive Games
Game Pass: TBC

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Little Nightmares 3 is set to see the series return in another unsettling adventure, only this time it's being developed by The Quarry and Until Dawn developer, Supermassive Games. Wi👍th online co-op support, you take on the role of either Alone or Low, two friends who got lost in💧 a nightmare in the world of Nowhere. Either with a pal or solo with an AI companion, you'll have to work together and face the frightening dangers as you try to find your way through The Spiral.

Moonlighter 2

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: Digital Sun
Game Pass: Yes

Moonlighter 2 is the sequel to the 2018 action-RPG, Moonlighter. Coming from developer Digital Sun once again, the new entry sees you play an adventurer leading a double life not unlike the first game, only you'll be starting over with no coin to your name. Now stranded in a village known as Tresna, you'll set out in search of treasure to sell in the shop you run by delving into dungeons. Part shop management, part action-RPG, with a dash of roguelike elements, the follow-up looks like one to watch out for. We certainly loved the original experience - our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Moonlighter review speaks to that.

Clockwork Revolution

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: inXile
Game Pass: Yes

A brand new upcoming RPG from the Wastelands team, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Clockwork Revolution was announced at Xbox Games Showcase 2023. The trailer shows a steampunk-infused world that feels both historical and futuristic, complete with blimps overhead alongside fl𝕴oating steam trains weaving through the cityscape. It looks an awful lot like BioShock: Infinite in more ways than one, but we're still keen to see ༺more from this first-person gunslinging adventure in the coming months.

Crimson Desert

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: Pearl Abyss
Game Pass: TBC

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Crimson Desert is one of the most exciting upcoming open world games heading our way in 2025. From the developers of Black Desert Online, players will be thrown into a sprawling medieval adventure as they fight to survive on the war-torn continent of Pywel. We're still waiting for a specific release date and news on whether or not it will be availabl🧸e on Game Pass as well. So, stay tuned for updates!

Digimon Story Time Stranger

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: Media. Vision Inc.
Game Pass: TBC

Pokémon step aside because a new Digimon game is on it's way and will be grabbing all our attention this year. Digimon Story Time Stranger is the latest outing in the iconic monster taming series and will be throwing us into a story that transcends dimensions. It's up to you to discover why your world is collapsing, and on your quest you'll have to enter different realities and meet a collection of characters along the way. We are still waiting for a solid release date for this ne🌊w Xbox game, so stay tuned!

Mixtape

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: Beethoven and Dinosaur
Game Pass: Yes

90s tunes, skateboarding, and the ravages of youth. That's the vibe Mixtape wants to encapsulate when it launches in 2025. Set against a soundtrack of veritable bangers, each one unlocking a core memory from the hazy days of youth, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Mixtape is one for the nostalgic 80s a⛄nd 90s kids who still hold their battered ol꧑d Walkman in the highest regard (as well as the skateboarding scars to prove their mettle). Life is Strange fans, l🎐ook no further.

Replaced

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: Sad Cat Studios
Game Pass: TBC

Replaced is set in a 2.5D sci-fi retro-futuristic world where you play as Re♔ach, an artificial intelligence that's trapped in a human body against its own will. As an action platformer, Sad Cat Studios describes Replaced as an experience that "combines cinemaඣtic platforming, pixel art and free-flow action combat" that's set in an alternate take on the 1980s.

Subnautica 2

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Game Pass: Yes

While we still bicker over whether Subnautica is a horror game, Unknown Worlds Entertainment has quietly cracked on with its long-awaited sequel. Set to launch in Early Access within early 2025, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:⭕Subnautica 2's biggest addition will be co-op, and it will be available on Game Pass from day one. Besides that, we know very little about 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Subnautica 2 - but that's ༒just part of the fun (or fear), isn't it?

Witchbrook

Release date: TBC 2025
Developer: Chucklefish, Robotality
Game Pass: TBC

Cozy gamers have been waiting for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Witchbrook since 2018, and luckily, our patience has finally borne magical fruit since the life-sim will be launching on Xbox Series X sometime later this year. In this upcoming title, you'll be playing as a witch who has just moved into the adorable-looking seaside town of Mossport. There you'll attend Witchbrook College and master your magic, as well as meet new friends, and perhaps fall in love, too. If you love 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:games like Stardew Valley ꧃with a fantastical twist, Witchbrook will be right up your street.

2026

Resident Evil Requiem

Release date: February 27, 2026
Developer: Capcom
Game Pass: TBC

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Resident Evil Requiem is the next mainline game in the series, aka Resident Evil 9. Officially unveiled for the first time at Summer Game Fest Live 2025, Requiem promises💞 to bring us "a new era" of survival horror" with a story of rich characters and more immersive gameplay.

GTA 6

Release date: May 26, 2026
Developer: Rockstar Games
Game Pass: TBC

Rockstar has announced that GTA 6 has been delayed to 2026, but that hasn't changed how hy🐟ped we are for it. Bringing us back to Vice City and set in the present day, the latest Grand Theft Auto instalment is set to push the boundaries of open world game design, leveraging the power of the Xbox Series X to deliver a crime story led by new protagonist Lucia – a criminal who is trying to survive the chaos of the sunshine stateℱ.

TBC 2026

There are No Ghosts at the Grand

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Friday Sundae
Game Pass: Yes

A hotel renovation game with a musical twist, There Are No Ghosts at tꦯhe Grand, will follow a protagonist who's inherited a run-down hotel from their missing father. While renovating the hotel with a talking decorator gun – yes, you read that right – you'll extend your decorative skills to the surrounding town, which seems to have a penchant for ska. There's just one catch: something fishy is going on, and if you're not careful while looking for your missing dad, "they will Wicker Man your ass". That's probably nothing – don't worry about it!

Animo

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Pawprint Studio
Game Pass: No

The pop tunes that score this introductory trailer are infectious, the star hero hoverboarding around a colorful world as they make friends with all manner of creatures. Somewhere between the likes of Pokemon and Palworld, Animo's big twist seems to come from the ability to actual control the critters you befriend by s🌼omehow transforming into them, exploring the world from their perspective as you battle some much bigger but no less cute beasties in real-time (one is called an Alpha Tubster).

Mudang: Two Hearts

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: EVR Studio
Game Pass: No

What makes you feel rage? That's what is at the heart of this tonally intriguing Korean thriller that puts you into the tactical boots of a soldier and a scared office worker – and perhaps even simultaneously. While the soldier does some 🍸brutal stabs and tactical FPSꦆ action, mixing in some sneaky elements via some rope climbing, the office worker must hide and evade a pursuer in a more mundane environment armed with only a shock gun.

Aphelion

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Don't Nod
Game Pass: Yes

The original Life is Strange developer has been busy off the back of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, but its latest game seems to break from its home brand point-and-click narrative format. Made in collaboration with the European Space Agency, Aphelion looks like a stunning action adventure set on a hostile alien planet, wher🅠e "tense stealth gameplay" will be our bread and butter if we want to survive.

Beast of Reincarnation

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Game Freak
Game Pass: Yes

You might best know Game Freak for Pokemon, but Beast of Reincarnation is a different sort of monster battling entirely. Playing as Emma the Sealer in the year 4026, y🌜ou must pursue the titular beast, which seems to be causing nature to run rampant in ways that are somewhat destructive – blight and corruption spreading as much as it brings bloom. Also in the mix are strange humanoid machines. Emma also looks to have a loyal wolf companion🌼 who will help out.

Super Meat Boy 3D

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Team Meat
Game Pass: Yes

Ever wanted what Super Meat Boy would be like if it jumped from its two-dimensional roots into three dimensions? Don't expect a leap that's as game-changing as going from Super Mario Bros. to Super Mario 64, which is a good thing for fans of thꦕe brutally punishing precision platformer. The masochistic level design returns, only now in 3D, floating platforms harboring all sorts of saw blades and other traps that'll turn Meat Boy into viscera, allowing you to try again instaওntly. In essence, this is Super Meat Boy with added depth as you move in and out of hazards, rather than anything too different.

Plague Tale Legacy Resonance

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Asobo Studio
Game Pass: Yes

So long to Amicia and Hugo - the new Plague Tale game features what looks like a new🐲 protagonist. Plague Tale Legacy Resonance looks like it's set in even more ancient times, with Roman soldiers strutting about despite inflections of modernity. I'm talking, of course, about the giant glowing cable running through the underground, rocky terrain we see in the announcement trailer. We don't know much else about the upcoming action-adventure, but this is one to watch in 2026 for 𒁏all fans of dark medieval fantasy.

Infinitesimals

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Cubit Studios
Game Pass: TBC

Infinitesimals is a third-person action-adventure that sees you take on the role of a leader of an elite alien squadron who finds themselves stranded on a🌺 mysterious planet. Being essentially the same size as an insect, you'll have to explore a massive world with towering wildlife to find your missing team.

Mortal Shell 2

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Cold Symmetry
Game Pass: TBC

Mortal Shell 2 was officially revealed during Summer Game Fest Live 2025. As a standalone sequel to the 2✱021 game that delivered a unique take on the souslike genre, Mortal Shell 2 looks set to bring us more high-stakes combat and expand on what came before in an open-word setting. It looks likဣe we'll have lots of big foes to take on across a twisted landscape in the follow-up.

Code Vein 2

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Game Pass: TBC

Code Vein 2 is officially set to follow-up from the 2019 RPG with over-the-top powers in the mix and souslike action. Wiꩲth a debut trailer showing off the the direct sequel, it's set to take us on a journey across eras where we'll be taking on the role of a Revenant hunter and face creatures known as horrors in what looks to be more combo-heavy combat.

End of Abyss

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Section 9 Interactive
Game Pass: TBC

As a new action-adventure from developer Section 9 Interactive🌄, End of Abyss is set to bring us to a mysterious underground compound where we'll investigate a disturbance that pulls us down into a strange abandoned world as combat technician, Cel. It looks set ﷽to be filled with plenty of darkness and mysterious monster-like creatures.

Gears of War: E-Day

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: The Coalition
Game Pass: Yes

Gears is back, but it's not Gears of War 6 like you might have hoped for. Instead, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Gears of War: E-Day is rewinding the clock to give us a prequel of the very first game, featuring plenty of returning faces. Set 14 years befor𒉰e the original Gears of War, we follow Marcus and Dom as they face the Locust Horde. Developed on Unreal Engine 5, the reveal trailer came during the Xbox Games Showcase back in 2024, and is set to arrive in 2026 as part of the 25th anniversary of Xbox celebrations.

Fable 4

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Playground Games
Game Pass: Yes

The wait for news was more than worth it after Fable started the Xbox Games Showcase 2023 off strong. Fable 4 sees the series' trademark British, tongue-in-cheek humor is returning, and we can't wait already. We've had our first look at the fantastical world of Albion as it stands in the new game, and with Richard Ayoade showing up as a hero-grabbing big boss, it's safe to say Playground looks ♍set to impress us w🍬hen it launches in 2026.

MARVEL 1943: Rise of Hydra

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Skydance Media
Game Pass: TBC

One of the most exciting new Xbox Series X games of 2026 also happens to be one of the best 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Marvel games as well. Skydance Media has recently revealed that 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:MARVEL 1943: Rise of Hydra will be heading our way sometime next year, giving all of us superhero fans something to look forward to. From what we can glean from the trailer, in this upcoming game,ꦕ we'll see Captain America and Black Panther team up during WW2 in occupied Paris. We love historical romps as well as the MCU,🐬 so we're keen to learn more about this one soon. In the meantime, MARVEL 1943: Rise of Hydra should still be on everyone's wish list.

007 First Light

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: IO Interactive
Game Pass: TBC

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:007 First Light is a new narrative-driven James Bond adventure in development at IO Interactive (of Hi🧜tman fame). The game is an entirely original James Bond story with a re-imagined take on the iconic agent that focuses on a younger Bond and his origins. With some other iconic characters set to feature such as M, Q, and Moneypenny, we can expect c🦄ar chases, guns, stealth, and lots of cool spy gadgets.

Pragmata

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Capcom
Game Pass: No

Pragmata is a new sci-fi action adventure from Capcom with its own unique hacking twist. With an updated lo🙈ok at what's in store, the game is set to follow the story of protagonist Hugh and his android companion Diana as they have to work together to fight back against AI in a lunar research station.

At Fate's End

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: Thunder Lotus Games
Game Pass: Yes

Thunder Lotus really loves to bring the feels, and if Spiritf🔯arer made you weep, At Fate's End looks set to make you bring out the tissue box all over again. The upcoming side-scrolling platformer shows two once-close sisters embroiled in a bitter feud, set against the backdrop of a beautiful fantasy world that's "fractured" by the sisters' quarrel. Pitched by the developer as a "more intense, more action-driven game, but no less intimate" than the likes of Spiritfarer, we'll get to see what all the beautiful hand-crafted action is all about when At Fate's End launches sometime in 2026.

TBC

Grave Seasons

Release date: TBC
Developer: Perfect Garbage
Game Pass: TBC

Grave Seasons puts a deadly twist on the farming life sim genre as you take on the role of a town newcomer who tries to uncover a sinister secret: which local resident is a serial killer? As you go about farming and fishing, you'll also get to help the 🌟locals, develop bonds, and even find some romance as you try to learn the truth.

Persona 4 Revival

Release date: TBC
Developer: Atlus
Game Pass: Yes

Inaba is looking particularly luscious in our first look at the long-rumored remake of Persona 4. Where Persona 3's was titled Persona 3 Reload, Persona 4's gets a snazzy title in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Persona 4 Revival. We've only gotten a glimpse of Yu – the player character – getting to run around t𝐆he familiar locations in full 3D that looks to be evolving on the f𝓰idelity presented in P3R.

Call of Duty Black Ops 7

Release date: TBC
Developer: Treyarch
Game Pass: Yes

Call of Duty has been returning to grounded historical and present-day settings for long enough, which is why it's great to see 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Call of Duty Black Ops 7 come back to the inventiveness of a near-future mission. Set more than 40 years after Black Ops 6 in 2035, we don't yet know much about the plot of the next installme😼nt, but with sleek new weapons, invisibility, and jumps out of cool 🐓new dropships, the trippy imagery in its initial reveal trailer suggests a deeper dive into the weird, dream-like pseudo-horror sequences we loved in BLOPS 6. And yes, Zombies mode is also returning.

Atomic Heart 2

Release date: TBC
Developer: Mundfish
Game Pass: TBC

Atomic Heart 2 was officially revealed at Summer Game Fest Live 2025 𝓀with a trailer featuring Queen's Don't Stop Me Now. Set to bring us back to the retrofuturistic universe from the first game, the di🥃rect sequel promises to put us up against new dangers and introduces us to new faces as we explore an open-world.

The Cube

Developer: Mundfish
Release date: TBC
Game Pass: TBC

The Cube is a new MMORPG shooter set in the same universe as Atomic Heart. Set to include an intriguing narrative, powerful bosses to fight, and plenty of enemies to face, a mysterious levitating cube is said to change reality wiཧth each turn and it's up to you to survive whatever it throws our way.

Chrono Odyssey

Release date: TBC
Developer: Chrono Studio
Game Pass: TBC

Chorno Odyssey is a new action MMORPG developed in Unreal Engine 5 that's set in a "seamlessly designed open-world". We'll be able to team up with pals or other players to explore its vast setting, take on mighty big foes, and use time-manipulating powers. With a wealth of dungeons to take on, it also features crafting eleꦦments and raids.

Out of Words

Release date: TBC 2026
Developer: WiredFly, Kong Orange
Game Pass: TBC

Out of Words is a new co-op platforming adventure in a world that's entirely crafted by hand, which is reflected in its unique puppet-like artstyle. With a friend online (with cross-play support) or via couch co-op, you'll take on the role ꦓof either Kurt or Karla and try to solve "physics-defying" puzzles.

Crescent County

Release date: TBC
Developer: Electric Saint
Game Pass: TBC

Upcoming delivery life-sim Crescent County sees you take on the role of a courier who rides on the back of a motorbroom on a colorful island. As you plan your day𓆏 by picking different jobs to help the locals and earn yourself some cash, you can also get to know a cast 🀅of characters, customize your witch-tech broom, and more. Currently on Kickstarter, it looks like one magical adventure that's set to land on the Xbox Series X sometime in the future.

Ark 2

Release date: TBC
Developer: Studio Wildcard
Game Pass: Yes

Ark 2 is the sequel to one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best survival games ever made, Ark: Survival Evolved. This time around it could be that the game will lean a little more into its story, particularly with Vin Diesel starring and onboard the dev team. Otherwise though, expect more of the same dinosaur taming, surviving but in a bigge♍r, beautiful world than ever before.

Outbound

Release date: TBC
Developer: Square Glade Games
Game Pass: TBC

Outbound is a new open-world exploration game that puts you behind the wheel of your very own camper van. But you won't just be driving the vehicle since it serves as your ho✅me base that's yours to shape and customize. As you scavenge for resources, you can use them to craft and build inside and on top of your van. You can also play with your pals since the adventure supports 4-player online co-op.

Assassin's Creed Hexe

Release date: TBC
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Game Pass: TBC

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe is the most mysterious upcoming Assassin's Creed game, with Ubisoft Montreal having only teased a vibe and location. Looking at the first trailer, it would appear that the vibe is super creepy, while the setting is rumored to be 16th Century Europe as it was becoming enveloped in the devastating witc𝐆h trials. Codename Hexe is in development at Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Ubisoft Montr💃eal, so we're certainly excited to see what the team can come up with this time.

The Blood of Dawnwalker

Release date: TBC
Developer: Rebel Wolves
Game Pass: TBC

Konrad Tomaszkiewicz (aka one of the directors for The Witcher 3) has a new project in the works - a vampire RPG called 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Blood of Dawnwalker. In the new game, you'll play as Coen, a♒ half-human, half-vampire who must race against the clock to save his family. The game looks stunning, moody, and filled with strong lore🐭 and world-building. We'll keep you posted as soon as there's a release date.

Hela

Release date: TBC
Developer: Knights Peak
Game Pass: TBC

Hela is a new 3D adventure that sees you take on the role of a li🐼ttle mouse who sets out to help a witch. With puzzles to solve in a lush world that's yours to explore solo or with friends in split screen co-op or online, the landscapes take inspiration from Scandinavia. Coming to us from the developers behind Unravel, Hela promises to take us on a heartwarming journey in a beautiful natural setting.

Contraband

Release date: TBC
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Game Pass: Yes

From the creators of Just Cause comes 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Contraband. This is a brand new, open-world, co-op game🅠 that is set in the fictional world of Bayan during the 1970s. This smugglers paradise is a bit of a mystery at present, as is the core gamep𒁏lay, so watch out for more details on this upcoming Xbox Series X game.

Dune: Awakening

Release date: TBC
Developer: Funcom
Game Pass: TBC

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dune: Awakening is a new survival MMO set on Arrakis that will see you trying to make it on the harsh, sandy planet alongside thousands of other players. As a massively multiplayer experience with survival elements, you'll be buil𓆏ding shelters to weather sandstorms, and trying to avoid sandworms lurking beneath the surface as you hunt down spice. While the new game will be coming to PC in early 2025, Xbox players are still waiting for a release date.

Everwild

Release date: TBC
Developer: Rare
Game Pass: Yes

Everwild is a brand new IP from Rare – the developer behind Sea of Thieves, Banjo-Kazooie, Battletoads, and more – and all we have so far is one trailer. It♕'s 🗹filled with colorful and fantastical creatures that interact with humans cautiously in a slightly otherworldly setting. It's not clear yet what kind of game it'll be, but there's clearly a threat from predators in this world too. Whatever form it eventually takes, it's clear that this upcoming Xbox Series X game is going to be a beauty.

Hollow Knight: Silksong 

Release date: TBC
Developer: Team Cherry
Game Pass: Yes

The long-awaited sequel to Team Cherry's Metroidvania action-adventure is officially coming. Taking on the role of Hornet, the princess, and protector of the Hallownest, we'll get to explore a new haunted kingdom. After being captured, you'll have to fight through enemies and solve mysteries as you set out on a pilgrimage. With the chance to see new lands, use new powers, and more, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Hollow Knight: Silksong's appearance during the Xbox and Bethesda showcase confirmed it will b🃏e coming to Game Pass.

Jurassic Park: Survival

Release date: TBC
Developer: Saber Interactive
Game Pass: TBC

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Jurassic Park: Survival is a single-player action-adventure game starring Dr. Maya Joshi, an InGen scientist stuck on Isla Nublar. While the island and company will be familiar to fans, the game will feature an original narrative-d♋riven adventure with a mixture of stealth and action in order to evade dinosaurs and survive the dangerous park.

Mass Effect 5

Release date: TBC
Developer: Bioware
Game Pass: TBC

After much praying to the video game gods, there is, in fact, a new Mass Effect game en route. Technically 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Mass Effect 5, it's looking likely that it will pick up after the events of Mass Effect 3 - if the trailer clues are anything to be believed. Info is scarce right now, but it's all looking very promising indeed for M🌜ass Effect fans.

OD

Release date: TBC
Developer: Kojima Productions
Game Pass: Yes

The long-rumored Xbox game from Hideo Kojima, OD "explo𝔉res the concept of testing your fear threshold," according to the announcement, as well as "what it means꧒ to OD on fear." It's described as a new form of media somewhere between a game and movie, and features popular actors Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schaffer, and Udo Kier in lead roles. Did we mention Jordan Peele is involved?

Perfect Dark

Release date: TBC
Developer: The Initiative, Crystal Dynamics
Game Pass: Yes

This one came as quite the surprise at the Game Awards 2020 - there's a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new Perfect Dark game en route from new X🌜box Game Studios developer, The Initiative. Rather than another remaster, this is a reboot of the series that keeps the secret agent gameplay ജand our hero, Joanna Dark, into an eco sci-fi tale set in the near future. Expect plenty of spy gadgets, some gloriously hybrid buildings, and some aliens along the way.

Routine

Release date: TBC
Developer: Lunar Software
Game Pass: TBC

Routine is a brand new survival horror game from developer Lunar Software. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Routine was actually announced a decade ago. The studio announced it, showed a little of its haunting sci-fi world to the public, and then disappeared from the face of the planet. We're happy Routine is back though, because ♏between the low-fi tech you'll need to wie🔥ld to survive, some genuinely awe-inspiring environments, and hellishly creepy androids, this looks like an unmissable horror game. Routine doesn't have a release window, but it is set to launch on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Game Pass.

State of Decay 3

Release date: TBC
Developer: Undead Labs
Game Pass: Yes

State of Decay is back with the third entry in the zombie survival-horror series. Cleverly called 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:State of Decay 3. Currently in early development, it's looking to bring fans the 'ultimate' zombie survival sim, and from the looks of the first trailer, it's going to brutal. Zombie deers, folks. Zombie deers. G🌠raphically the game looks fantastic, so expect things to be even more gruesome than ever before.

She Dreams Elsewhere

Release date: TBC
Developer: Studio Zevere
Game Pass: Yes

Trapped in a coma, Thalia's only hope of escape is to confront her own nightmares that are keeping her there. She Dreams Elsewhere has a surreal art style that nods towar𝔍ds Undertale and Earthbound (and has similar turn-based combat to match), the strange world within Thalia's mind is filled with interesting and intriguing places to explore. Characters can be customized in combat using Charms, and further enhanced by building Connections with them (which we hope is a little like Persona in action).

Tides of Annihilation

Release date: TBC
Developer: Eclipse Glow Games
Games Pass: TBC

Tides of Annihilation is an upcoming Xbox games that's a stunning looking hack-and-slash fantasy aꦕdventure, set in the backdrop of London in ruins. Here you'll play as the young Gwendolyn who is the city's last survivor. However, there are a ton of fantastical looking foes and bosses, eager to finish off humanity once and for all. Tides of Annihilation was announced during the February 2025 PlayStation State of Play showcase, and from the clips of the game that we've seen so far, it looks like the action is at the forefront and that the unique setting works beautifully. For sure, it's one to keep an eye on.

For more new picks, check out our lists of all the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming PS5 games and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new PC games heading our way. We also have a breakdown of all the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Xbox Series X games that you can play right now.

If you're unfamiliar with Obsidian, firstly, are you ok? And secondly, now is a great time to get up to speed with one of the most creative and personality-filled names in the gaming industry. Over the years, we've seen an increase in the studio's willingness to experiment and try new things, from the co-op experience Grounded to the stylized historical mystery Pentiment. Avowed was their last release, and the fantasy title has already established itself as one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best games of 2025. However, it's just the start of a great year, as we know that Obsidian has a handful of the most exciting 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games of 2025 in their back pocket.

From updates around The Outer World's sequel to the big reveal of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded 2, there is a lot to keep track of. The Fallout New Vegas studio was acquired by Microsoft in 2018, meaning they are also some of the biggest 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Xbox games to keep an eye out for that will also be coming to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Pass on Day One. So, for a full re🌟cap, read on below as we take you through all the upcoming Obsidian games on the way.

Upcoming Obsidian games

Grounded 2

Release date: July 29, 2025
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X

Shocking everyone, Grounded 2 was announced during the Xbox Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest 2025. Not only did we learn that we'll be able to dive into the sequel to one of the best survival games in Early Access in just a few weeks, but we were also treated to a separate direct tꦫhat unveiled a ton of cool new features of the game. Set two years after the events of the original Grounded, our four teens are still missing and are still tiny.🅷 You'll have to navigate Brookhollow Park in order to uncover the community's secrets and get back home.

The upcoming gam♔e will introduce new creepy crawlies, such as cockroaches, new biomes, and mounts. Honestly, it looks fantastic and like another co-op winner. Keeping the typical Obsidi💯an brand of humor and RPG elements alive as well, we've been teased with more story elements this time around. We'll keep you posted as soon as we hear more details.

The Outer Worlds 2

Release date: October 29, 2025
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X, PS5

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds 2 was first officially announced back in 2021 with a that tapped into the first game's signature sense of humor. While it didn't reveal much beyond confirming the sequel's existence, we finally got a release date and an in-depth look at the upcoming game during 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Summer Game Fest 2025. In its own separate direct after the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Games Showcase 2025, we got to see more RPG elements, fancy new weapons, and multꦕiple comparisons to one of Obsid🎃ian's best games ever made, Fallout: New Vegas.

In terms of story, the action will take place in Arcadia; we'll be exploring a new colony as an Earth Directorate agent who's sent to investigate dangerous rifts. We'll also be meeting a fresh cast of companions who are all said to have dreams of their own - and whether you want t🔯o help them fulfill those dreams is up to you. You can expect to once again be able to shape your own adventure and character in what promises to be another choice-driven RPG from the studio.

Here are the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Xbox Series X games to pick up while you wait for these Obsidian gems. Or you can read our lists of all the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming PC games and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming PS5 games to keep an eye out for.

In an interview with to celebrat𝓡e Fallout's 25th anniversary, Obsidian's co-founder Feargus Urquhart discussed the studio's stance on returning to the franchise. "If we ever got the opportunity to make another Fallout game, we'd m꧒ake it," he says. "There's not even a question of whether or not we would do it, it's just 'Will the opportunity arise?'"

Despite his enthusiasm, if another Obsidian-developed Fallout game does end up happening, it might not be for some time, as the studio's currently got a lot on its plate. Its survival game Grounded left Early Access just last month, and next month see the release of its medieval detective adventure 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Pentiment. After that, it'll be all hands on deck to get first-person RPG Avowed as well as 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds 2 out the door. Urquhart says, "At some poi♕nt, we'll start looking into what those next games are going to be, and I would be surprised if Fallout is not on that list."

He adds, "If we were to do Fallout, it has to tie in with what Bethesda is doing with Fallout and a lot of other things, but I would always🐼 personally say my hope is that before I ride off i💫nto the sunset, I'd love to make another Fallout game."

Responding to Urquhart's comments on , many players are crying out for a sequel to New Vegas. "New Vegas 2 is all I want," writes . Some, on the other hand, are keen to see the developer do something new with ෴the series. "I wouldn't want New Vegas 2," says . "But I'd like to see them tackle a new part of the Fallout world we haven't seen before."

Earlier this month, Obsidian took to Twitter to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Fallout franchise and appeared to poke fun at f🔯ans' demands ﷺfor a New Vegas sequel, saying, "A𒆙nd before anyone asks, our plates are pretty full right now, so no."

See which Wasteland comes out on top as we rank the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Fallout games. 

Taking to Twitter yesterday on October 10 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Fallout franchise, original Fallout New Vegas developer Obsidian tweeted out the message just below. 🥃The tweet seemingly shoots down rumors and speculation that the studio coꦅuld be making a sequel to the much-beloved spin-off Fallout RPG.

This new comment from Obsidian directly contradicts a previous claim from earlier this year. Back in February, a journalist claimed that “very early” Fallout New Vegas 2 t﷽alks were taking place at Xbox. The report wꦆas crystal cl⭕ear that the sequel wasn’t guaranteed however, but that Obsidian owners Xbox were keen on making the game.

The new c🌠omments from Obsidian could mean that the studio declined the option of developing a sequel to Fallout New Vegas, or talks between the two parties simply never took place. After all, the original report earlier this year claimed the discussions surrounding a potential sequel were taking place at Xᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚbox, and not Obsidian. 

The studio could simply be too busy to take on the sequel even if they wanted to, as the original tweet from Obsidian alludes to. We know the developer is currently working on four ongoing projects: action-adventure game Grounded, Avowed from the world of Pillars of Eternity, whacky Medieval adventure epic Pentiment, and fully-fledged RPG sequel 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds 2.

For what it’s worth, when asked about the pꦯossibility of outsourcing another Fallout game 🗹to a different studio, series head honcho Todd Howard told that it was unlikely to happen.

Check out our full list of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Xbox Series X games to see what projects Obsidian currently has on the docket.  

Promising to bring us to a new star system with larger environments with more ways to explore, The Outer Worlds 2 will also introduce us to a cast of fresh faces who will be joining us on our journey. From trailers to footage of the game in action and lots of details showcases by the developer, the sequel is already shaping up to be one of the biggest 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games for 2025. And happily, it won't only be among the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Xbox Series X games, with Obsidian also confirming it will be coming to P⛄C and PS5, too.

As one of the major 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Obsidian games in the pipeline alongside 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded 2, and with a releasꦦe already out there, 2025 is one big year for the studio. If you're looking for an overview of everything you need to know about The Outer Worlds 2, you've come to the right place. Read on below to get a rundown of the setting, gameplay, trailers, and much more.

The Outer Worlds 2 release date confirmed

The Outer Worlds 2 release date is set for October 29, 2025.

The release date was officially confirmed during the Xbox Game Showcase 2025, with a new trailer dropping (which you can watch above) ahead of the dedicated Direct. The October date came after we got a 2025 launch window last year during 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Game Awards 2024.

While we await its arrival later this year, check out Obsidian's latest release with our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Avowed review.

The Outer Worlds 2 trailers

A new Outer Worlds 2 trailer dropped during The Game Awards 2024, and it finally gives us a look at the upcoming RPG's gameplay. With a funny voice-over ac🌠companying the footage, we see some sci-fi player hubs, enemy encounters, tons of new shiny weapons, and some stunning environments. You can watch the clip for yourself above to see all the action play out.

Th💙is more action-packed trailer came after the initial Outer Worlds 2 reveal trailer dropped back in 2021, which you can see just below.

The Outer Worlds 2 setting 

The Outer Worlds 2 is set i𝔍n Arcadia, an "isolated colony" ruled by gangs known as factions. We've been sent here to examine what's going on with the Skip Drives, which are starting to damage space-time in a way that's fast getting out of hand. With Arcadia governed by so many warring factions though, each with their own agenda, we'll have to play our cards right if we want to achieve our mission goal.

On top of the distinct Fallout vibe, The Outer Worlds 2 takes on a World War ꦗ1 flavor. Specifically, "World War 1-like setting in space." Arcadia feels militarized, with the game itself taking a step be🌠yond satirizing corporations to put governments under the microscope, too.

The Outer Worlds 2 platforms

The Outer Worlds 2 is set to come to PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5. While it was thought to be an Xbox Series X exclusive, Obsidian revealed it will be also be landing PlayStation's console in our first proper look at the upcoming🍬 RPG back in December 2024.

The Outer Worlds 2 gameplay

Everything we've seen of The Outer Worlds 2 gameplay shows it as generally bigger and far more fleshed out in scope than the first in almost every respect, especially when it comes to the refined approach to the perks and flaws system. Factions and companions have also received a significant upgrade, with each faction having its♍ own radio station and plenty of reactive adjustments to aid overall immersion in the RPG.

During the following Xbox Games Showcase, Obsidian walked us through its myriad gameplay tweaks - starting with the mechanics of shooting. Guns "feel" better in Tဣhe Outer Worlds 2 – from recoil and snapping down sights, to sound effects, and there will be vast array of different ways to approach combat depending on the skills, flaws, and perks you pick that will allow you tailor your style - whether the꧟ be gung-ho with goopy explosives, going stealthy, and much more.

The sequel will also feature larger environments, with Obsidian setting out to "encourage exploration with improved mobility across the board". With the ability to run, slide, double-jump, and essentially parkour our way across "nooks and crannies" of the worlds we'll ve൲nture to. The game will als♉o feature seamless first and third person perspective switches to really allow you to customize your experience.

Different approaches in conversation, with certain parameters such as skills in Medicine to pass particular speech checks - not unlike the first game. The quest also involves a puzzle making use of a device known as the N-Ray scanning device, which lets you see through walls to detect 🌜enemies. It looks like we're going to have lots of different means to approach situations both in and out of combat, in true Obsidian RPG form.

As detailed in an earlier this year, The Outer Worlds 2 is also set to put a greater focus on Skills✅ over Stats this time around, with 12 different skills in total that speak to your character's strengths - with the likes of Engineering and Hacking being among them. Trai🍌ts will also be available which act apply permanent effects to your character that work in your favor, or be more negative in nature.

Both the IGN First preview and the Direct also delved into the the return of Perks and Flaws, with the latter being more responsive to the way you play this time around. In the preview, one example shows how players that skip dialogue often can offer up a flaw that requires you to get through conversations in a set amount of time if you want to avoid a penalty, whi๊le another in the Direct is Bad Knees, which sees players moving faster for the duration of the game with the snag that your creaking joints might break your stealth cover at any given time.

Not unlike the first game, it sounds like The Outer Worlds 2 is tapping into some role-play goodness in own signature way, with all 🎃of its systems offering up ways to immerse yourself in your character's space boots - and a hefty dose of humor to boot.

For more, be sure to check out our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Outer Worlds 2 hands-on preview.

The Outworlds 2 weapons

Alongside the dedicated The Outer Worlds 2 Direct, which confirmed gunplay has been improved in "every way", Obsidian also revealed it did a full 💯breakdown of Destiny" and got advice 🅰from the Halo team to make it feel even better this time around.

With a suite of improvements for aiming, reloading, and sound effects, the Direct also conf🐠irmed throwables will be introduced for the first time, with the likes of smoke grenades, distraction devices, and science grenades t𒆙hat can levitate enemies.

Favorite weapons from the first game will be sticking around, with the Shrink Ray set to return in The Outer Worlds 2 - only instead of making an enemy smaller for a set amount of time, they'll stay downsized, which allows꧟ you kick or crush them.

New weapon types will be in the game, too, wi⭕th a roster of inventive and wonderfully weird guns and melee weapons to wield in the sci-fi corporate-run univ🔯erse. Various examples were given for some of the unique weapons we'll get to mess around - you can find the full list of new weapons confirmed so far below:

• The Boarst Blaster - A big gun that fires out tumors that explode like grenades or be consumed for additional health
• Rookie's Reward - A rifle-like gun that levels up the more you use it throughout the game, and each time it levels, it will shoot out confetti in a "fun fanfare" celebration
• The Pop-Up Gun - Fires out ad drones to distract enemies with corporate slogans and jingles, and the drones can also be exploded
• The Armageddon - A science weapon that fires out little arms that stick to surfaces or people and continue to hit what they've landed on
• The Spectrum Dance Saber - a sword-like melee weapon that sees you attack to a musical beat and earn addition bonus for each hit you land in time
• The Big Bang - A big gun that uses material harvested from rifts to shoot out a giant ball of energy that vaporizes everything in its path (ammo is extremely rare)
• Gary - living science armor, when wearing Gary, he will lash out at foes

Can I pre-order The Outer Worlds 2?

The Outer Worlds 2 is now available to pre-order across all platforms.💦 Obsidian confirmed the upcoming sci-fi adventure can now be pre-ordered at the closing the Outer Wor🐠lds 2 Direct, with two different editions to choose from.

The Outer Worlds 2 standard edition costs $79.99 / £69.99 and will come with a Comꦺmander Zane Anti-Monopolistic Battle 👍Pack.

The Outer Worlds 2 premium edition clocks in at $99.99 / £89.99 and wi🐼ll get you up to five days Early Access ahead of launch, the DLC pass for two future story expansions, and the Moon Man's Corporate Appreciation Premium Prize pack along with ജa digital artbook and soundtrack.

While we wait for more The Outer Worlds 2 details, you can read our list of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best RPG games of all time if you fancy playing some classics.

Grounded cross play lets you connect Xbox and PC platforms

The good news is that Grounded cross play is fully supported across Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC, so you can connect with your friends no matter what platform they're all using. Those playing on Xbox consoles and through the Microsoft Store on PC can just follow the standard 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded multiplayer process by selecting the option from the main menu, then as long as your Xbox Live accounts are linꦇked as friends you'll see their🦩 hosted world available to join.

To access Grounded cross play on the Steam version of the game there is an additional step to take, as you'll need to use the Xbox companion app to connect with your friends instead, due to it not being directly connected to the Xbox Live Network. However you join other people cross-platform, make sure the host has shared their world properly so you can all continue to access it (if that's what you want to happen), otherwise everyone else in your 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded player count will be kicked when the host leaves and you'll lose your progre💯ss.

You can't play Grounded on PS4 or PS5

Grounded has been a console exclusive to Xbox since it first launched in early access back in July 2020, which isn't a surprise given it's being developed by Obsidian Entertainment who✃ were acquired by Microsoft in 2018, and published by Xbox Game Studios. For those first party developer reasons, Grounded on PS4 or PS5 isn't going to happen, so if you want to play it then you'll need to do so on an Xbox console or PC.

Th🐓at's a lot of plates for one studio to keep spinning, so you could be forgiven for seeing Grounded's transition into a fully launched product as a case of Obsidian putting its small-scale, experimental survival game out to pasture – closing the books on development in order to move onto bigger things.

Far from it. Grounded 1.0 not only celebrates all that Obsidian has achieved with the game over the course of Early Access, but points to a hopefully long and fruitful future for this quirky, yet unabashedly charming cocktail of survival-based storytelling. Grounded may look small at first glance, then, but don't be fooled; this latest iteration cements its status as a mighty addit🌠ion to the Game Pass Catalogue. 

Honey, who shrunk the kids?

While Obsidian has always pitched Grounded as a blend of survival-crafting and classic role-playing, the game has spent much of its time in Early Access leaning more towards the former, as narrative threads fell away the further you sunk into the adventures of its miniaturized teens trapped in a mad scientist's backyard. Grounded's full release finally changes all of that, offering a complete campaign that will let you unearth the mystery of who shrunk them, learn about the true nature of their perilous habitat, and finally go big and go home.

It's a mystery that's absolutely worth pursuing to the end, as this is where both Obsidian's well-known knack for world-building most successfully intertwines with its clear, unabashed adoration for Amblin-esque '90s 💃nostalgia – it feeds the story's blend of light-hearted humour and coming-of-age themes. The questing hums along at a decent tempo, too, rewarding your engagement with Grounded's survival-crafting systems via steady drips of narrative beats to enjoy, as well as sights to uncover as you explore the backyard and its many secrets. 

While it's still a far cry from the kind of deep, role-playing simulation typically seen from an Obsidian title (NPCs remain frustratingly few and far between), the Grounded campaign finally feels like a story that lives up to the studio's reputation, in s🎐pite of the compromises made in sustaining the game's foundations as a survival-crafting experience.

That survival-crafting foundation is stronger than ever in Grounded, too, not least because this latest update sits atop a heap of new🐓 features and improvements that have been added to the game (and carefully iterated on) over the last two years. Whether playing alone or with up to three other friends online, the urge to explore, conquer, an🎃d invest yourself into the Grounded ecosystem remains ever compelling thanks to a vast wealth of progression paths to engage with. 

Better yet, this sense of immersive adventuring is particularly palpable whenever Grounded leans into the horror of what it means to be running around at the bottom of the backyard food chain. Much has be🙈en said about the game's arachnophobia mode, which helpfully offers a "spider slider" for customising the appearance of Grounded's most fearsome foes. But when you run into your first eight-legged apex predator for yourself, its fangs bared and eyes reddened, the temptation to head straight to the settings menu is palpable.  

For all of its creativity, however, Grounded doesn't do much to avoid the familiar trappings of its genre either, occasionally falling into the humdrum of the survival-crafting grind as you invest hours into gathering up heaps of resources to build your shelter or simply keep your hunger and thirst at bay. These gameplay loops are popular for a reason, of course, and some of you will happily cycle through them for all their merit. For those who aren't as taken by such genre staples, it's worth emphasising that Grounded merely builds upon, rather than subverts or transcends, the prosaic rhy𓆏thms of the survival-crafting template. 

In that same vein, Grounded's user interface could also benefit from further s🃏treamlining. The crafting, building, progression, questing, and inventory systems are all fairly extensive, but Grounded's awkward menu management doesn't make the navigation of those systems as simple or straightforward as it should be – actively resisting against player intuition at its worst.

And then there's combat, which could be best described as more function than form; a perfunctory means to an end (that end being resource harvesting) rather than an enjoyable experience in and of itself. The addition of new boss fights, such as the fan-requested praying mantis, do bring some welcome diversity to the action, and there&apos📖;s plenty of choice when it comes to weaponry, but fighting the many bugs and beasties of Grounded still lacks the dynamics and inventiveness found in other Obsidian titles like The Outer Worlds, and I would love to see the studio bring more of that combat flavouring here going forward. 

It's not a bug, it's an enemy

There's no mistaking that Grounded's visuals have🌱 impressed from day one of its Early Access launch, executing a cohesive artistic vision with creative flourish and some genuinely fantastic lighting effects. That's no less true today, especially on the Xbox Series X, where Obsidian takes full advantage of the consoles' capacity for 4K resolutions and higher frame rates. 

The backyard, o🐬nce a limited playspace that struggled to fully live up to its winning conceit, is now an immense jungle of diverse biomes and points of interests. The loca🍒tions range from a murky Koi Pond patrolled by its own unique bestiary of underwater predators to a literal sandbox that resembles its very own microcosmic desert sahara. Grounded's ability to find the awe-inspiring in the everyday is, and always will be, one of its greatest achievements, rivalling the most epic fantasy settings in spectacle without ever leaving its own backyard.

Obsidian has also addressed the majﷺority of bugs that were so prevalent during its first year, too; insects no longer clip in and out of the ground, crashes are now an infrequent occurrence, and much of the quality-of-life improvements that have been added up till this point make for a smoother, more sophisticated experience overall. That's not to say that Grounded is entirely error-free, but it has certainly earned its way out of Early Access, and with Obsidian remaining committed to further updates down the road, it's only going to become more optimised over time.

The most promising feature of Grounded is that there's always room to grow, then, but even if Obsidian decided to call it quits now, it could do so proud of what it has accomplished here. This small ga﷽me with a big heart is ultimately a successful experiment, and while the tension between its two identities of role-playing and survival-crafting results in some noticeable tension points, the marriage between the two remains a happy union overall. 

Like its motley gang of playable teens, Grounded is gutsy, a little awkward, and still going through some growing pains, yet Obsidian's pocket-sized odysse💝y𓂃 is so bursting with personality and imagination, you simply can't help but root for it. 

Grounded was reviewed on Xbox Series X/S, with a code provided by the publisher.

I was in atte🦂ndance at XO19 when Microsoft Gaming revealed thౠis miniature multiplayer game, developed by a small ancillary team at a studio otherwise responsible for some of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best RPGs of the last two decades, and was impressed by what I saw, heard, and played. But with the eventual Xbox Game Preview build offering just 20% of the planned content, I quickly bounced off Groꦏunded and it all but fell off of my radar entirely. Looking at the game as it exists today, it's truly impressive what Obsidian has been able to achieve in such a small amount of time. 

Grounded has transformed from this niche experience, one that once felt target-designated to appease a crowd who were nostalgic toward a cult classic Rick Moranis comedy vehicle from 1989, to a video game that feels like a viable alternative to some of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best survival games out there. It&a꧋pos;s clear that Obsidian has imbued Grounded with the RPG sensibilities that made the studio so belo📖ved – without sacrificing the accessible, family-friendly heart that made it so attractive to begin with.

The 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded armor, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded weapons, and crafting systems have newfound depth, along with upgrade paths that demand careful resource allocation. Exploration requires coordination with friends, and combat necessitates at least a basic understanding of the parry system – particularly as you come up against some of the more terrifyingly imposing bosses. If you haven't encountered them yet, trust me when I tell you that giant 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Grounded spider Broodmother and Mantis are nightmare generators. But with that all said, it's equally entertaining to just grab a couple of buddies, build an impressive-looking base from twigs and leaves, and fight off waves of horrible ants. I don't know – there's 🌌a simplicity to Grounded that's hard to turn away from, and a 🍃depth that can easily hook even the most passive bystander. 

Into the wilds

Whether you're charting your return for Grounded as it leaves early access or looking to shrink yourself down for the very first time, one thing that you'll undoubtedly find impressive is the scope of the backyard. Grounded is a beautiful playground, with this sublime serenity permeating its world – you know, before the towering bugs start encroaching on your territory and wrecking all your hard work. What's awesome to see is just how varied the backyard biomes have become – from the Koi Pond to the Haze, the Trash Heap to the Sandbox and beyond, each complete with its own debilitating status effects to manage, and critters to frantically combat. Oh, sure, the Picnic Table sounds like a groovy place to hang, until the damned bees show up to party. 

In a Fall season where there are few exclusive 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Xbox Series X games, I'm surprised that there isn't more noise around Grounded. That could be a side effect of this first-party Game Preview experiment, where the early access nature of Grounded's existence has made an otherwise excellent co-op game feel ever-pr🌱esent and yet perpetually incomplete. So here's what I'll tell you: if you're looking for something a little different, or if you think your buddies will want to test their survival skills in a new type of warzone, then you should co🀅nsider giving Grounded a run on September 27. It surprised me, and for you it just might do the same.

Grounded is one of our most anticipated 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new games of 2022. It is going to launch on PC, Xbox One, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Series X, and will be available via Xbox Game Pass from September 27.  

This remake comes courtesy of the YouTube channel which has given Mojave Wasteland a visual overhaul. Strikingly different 🌊from the original release - as to be expected from a game released back in 2010 - this version of Fallout: New Vegas gives us an idea of what an official remake could look like. 

Not only do the locations featured in the concept trailer look photorealistic, but the post-apocalyptic creatures pl♕ayers encounter in the full game have also been given a new lease of life. Bad news for all the arachnophobes out there though as this trailer includes a giant and menacing-looking spider, something that isn’t even a part of the original game but fits right in regardless. 

TeaserPlay has managed to capture the atmosphere of the Obsidian RPG perfectly with the use of lighting and an appropriate soundtrac♛k. The only thing left to wonder is: Fallout: New Vegas Unreal Engine 5 remake w꧂hen? Unfortunately, as far as we know, Microsoft - who acquired Obsidian back in 2018 - hasn’t announced any plans for a Fallout: New Vegas remaster or remake at the moment. This fan-made game also isn’t due to be released at all either. 

That doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to look forward to though as 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Fallout 5 is officially on the way, and "Very early" 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Fallout New Vegas 2 talks are reportedly happening at Microsoft. Speaking of Fallout 5, another fan recently made an unofficial Fallout 5 Unreal Engine 5 trailer which gives us a pretty good idea of what the upcoming RPG may look like. If you’re more loyal to New Vegas, though, the game’s director Josh Sawyer is currently working on their next title, a narrative adventure game called 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Pentiment which is out in November 2022 an𓂃d is apparently nothing like Obsidian’s other titles.

Inspired to jump back into Fallout again? Take a look at our list of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Fallout games to help you to decide what to play next. 

Kickstarter has been good to Chris Avellone. The creative director of Obsidian Entertainment recently celebrated as Project Eternity cleared , and he's also aiding with the design of Wasteland II, which 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: hit almost $3 million in April. D🐎espite the early successes, he told in an interview published today that he worries about "Kickstarter exhaustion."

"[T]here's the danger of when the first big failure comes out on Kickstarter, I think people will be even more hesitant about donating," Avellone said. "It will be beyond exhaustion level; it will be 'I'm not sure this process is going to pan out.' I feel like Kickstarter is still in its infancy when it comes to the♏ process; I feel like we're in the honeymoon phase."

Avellone said it goes the other way, too: when the first successful Kickstarter game releases, it may encourage backers to give even more. Whichever direction the crowdfunding service goes, he said it's♛ been tremendously helpful for developers, and not just monetarily. He said inXile Entertainment quickly discovered its Kickstarter backers were a♌mbivalent toward social elements and voice acting in Wasteland II thanks to the transparent design process.

"They don't care about that stuff, and if you know that in the fir✱st thirty days𝓀, you save so much time and so much resource you would otherwise just be pissing away," Avellone said.

Though Kickstarter has been ballyhooed as an end to publisher dominance over the gಞaming industry, Avellone thinks they're more like two separate, interacting markets.

"We're not even really competing per se. They always have the voice-overs and the bells and whistles, like you have to push the physics engine and the art engine with all of their stuff, because they're targeti꧃ng a much different audi🃏ence than the small selected target that we're doing with our games. The Wasteland II target isn't necessarily the same thing as the Call of Duty target, obviously, and there's always going to be Call of Duty games funded by publishers."

Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart told he couldn't help but worry in the beginning that gamers wouldn't be taken with the idea, or wouldn'🌱t believe in the studio enough to contribute. Those fears begin to abate around the $750,000 mark, however.

Speaking of unbelievable sums of money, Project Eternity managed to eclipse the record-holding campaign that kicked off the flood of independent developers to Kickstarter: the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Double Fine Adventure, which raised a bit over $3.3 million in March.

"We are really thankful for Tim (Schafer) and the rest of the people at Double Fine for tryin🌃g Kickstarter out," Urquhart said. "If he hadn't there would have always been a bi𒊎g question about how far you could take it."

Schafer, the founder of Double Fine, is plea♈sed to see the idea grow and help out fellow developers.

"I'm really happy for th🍌em and glad they broke the record — not just for them, but because I hope that the Kickstarter funding of games just keeps growing and growing," Schafer told Polygon. "It's the best thing to happen to the games industry — and the whole entertainment industry — in a long time."

The team at Obsidian responsible for Project 𝐆Eternity may grow a bit, but Urquhart said his studio is committed to pursuing the original vision of a relatively small, dedicated team as best it can, for as long as it takes.

"Thinking about having a team of 15 before, maybe we will take that to a set number like 20 or 22," he said. "I don't think we're going to push it to huge number, so it may make the game come ཧout later … We just want to be smart in how we do it and make an awesome game."

Kickstarter lets developers build their own brands in an industry dominated by multi-million dollar expenditures, according to Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart. interviewed Urquhart about his company's successful Kickstarter for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Project Eternity, a revival of PC RPGs like 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur's Gate and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Planescape: Torment.

"[W]e're getting the opportunity to go build a brand, and it's a brand that we own," Urquhart said. "And that's what changes t🐟he power a little bit. Now I have a game that we're going to go make, and I have a brand. And I own that brand. And it's now something that if൩ I go talk to a publisher to talk about doing something different with a brand … they're not going to get to own that brand."

Urquhart said the crowdfunding platform would not be as useful for breaking into the extremely expensive AAA console game market. Instead, developers can use the platform to generate 💎their own ideas directed toward more specific audiences.

Project Eternity will be a major project, he said, but it will be distribute✤d digitally only on PC, Mac, and Linux — no tablets or consoles. This, and its devotion to a seemingly forgotten subsection of games, 🃏put it in what he called a "no man's land" for traditional publishing avenues.

Though the crowdfunding model may seem to clash with established methods, Urquhart said Kickstarter could ultimately be a win-win for publishers and developers willing to look at more progressive models of owner🎐ship.

"It's pretty scary when you're a publisher and you have to fund games because that's what you need to go ship. But now maybe some titles can come to you secondarily, or for distribution, or something like that where you don't have to worry about a cash outlay so 🍒much."