With The Outer Worlds, Obsidian's future looks bright

The gaming industry has been home to many different role-playing games (RPGs) in recent years, ranging from action-heavy melee slashers to sprawling open-world experiences. However, there has been a distinct lack of high-quality "classic" RPGs that feature in-depth world-building, nuanced skill systems, quality speech trees, and different approaches to combat scenarios. Though games like Divinity: Original Sin 2 that offer this type of gameplay experience have come out, these titles are nevertheless few and far between.

The Outer Worlds, Obsidian Entertainment's latest title, stands out like a diamond in the rough, offering players the deep RPG experience that developers like BioWare and Bethesda have not. And after such a fantastic start with this new intellectual property (IP), Obsidian has the potential — and the talent — to seize this part of the market and capitalize on it moving forward.

Doing the role-playing genre justice

The excellence of The Outer Worlds proves that Obsidian has what it takes to produce high-quality RPG titles. With its stellar writing quality, dynamic gameplay systems, top-notch voice acting, and breathtaking environments, it's the quintessential role-playing experience. The amount of freedom it offers to the player is astounding, and the worlds that the game sends you to are so richly detailed that you can get lost in them for hours on end.

In truth, though, Obsidian's masterclass achievement with The Outer Worlds isn't that much of a surprise. Developers at Obsidian have worked on various successful role-playing titles in the past. Obsidian itself has developed some of what many consider to be among the best RPGs of all-time, including games such as Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and Fallout: New Vegas. Though Obsidian has gone through periods of struggle in recent years, its undeniable talent in crafting role-playing experiences has led to it making a triumphant comeback with The Outer Worlds — and the good times don't have to end.

The door is open, Obsidian

When you consider the fact that titles like The Outer Worlds are few and far between in the current gaming market, Obsidian has a serious opportunity to take the reigns and carve out a slice of the gaming industry for itself with its new IP. After the critical acclaim that The Outer Worlds has received from both fans and reviewers alike, it seems likely that the game will receive a sequel in the future. In an interview with Game Informer, head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty even expressed hope that The Outer Worlds would become "an enduring franchise," signaling that Microsoft is willing to put faith in the IP moving forward.

If The Outer Worlds does end up growing into a franchise, it will undoubtedly attract the attention of fans of Bethesda and BioWare. These companies were once known for creating stellar RPGs, but have mostly lost favor with players due to controversial titles like Fallout 76 and Anthem, as well as disappointing ones such as Fallout 4 and Mass Effect: Andromeda. These RPG lovers have been looking for games that scratch their itch for something on par with the titles these developers used to make for a long time, and a series of The Outer Worlds games would satisfy these desires without a shadow of a doubt.

Ultimately, with the gaming scene facing a shortage of deep, nuanced RPGs and with Bethesda and BioWare fans hungry for something that delivers the type of experience they yearn for, Obsidian is in an excellent position to use its new IP to catapult itself onwards and upwards. Especially when you remember that Microsoft seems fully committed to backing The Outer Worlds, the door is open for Obsidian. We can only hope that it steps through.