Obsidian Veteran Acknowledges Challenges of Releasing Three Games in One Year, Calls Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 Not “Disasters”
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From the outside, it looked like Obsidian Entertainment had a stellar 2025, launching three games: Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, and Grounded 2 in early access. However, as sales of the first two titles reportedly fell short of expectations from parent company Microsoft, the studio’s leader believes that releasing so much content in such a short timeframe may not have been the best strategy.
Feargus Urquhart, CEO and co-founder of Obsidian, shared his thoughts on the past year. “They’re not disasters. I’m not going to say this was a kick in the teeth,” he remarked about The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed. “It was more like: ‘That sucks. What are we learning?'”
In contrast, Grounded 2 quickly shattered its predecessor’s records on Steam, attracting three million players within its first two weeks. This success prompted Obsidian to reconsider their approach to game development, including how much they invest in each title and the time it takes to create them.
With both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 taking six years to develop, Urquhart aims to reduce the development cycle to three to four years per game. He also recognizes the need to space out releases to better manage resources and prevent burnout among the team. “It’s not good to release three games in the same year. It’s the result of things going wrong,” Sawyer added.
Despite the contrasting themes and aesthetics of Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2, it felt like the developers were competing against themselves by launching both within the same year. This was compounded by the competition from other titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Borderlands 4, and Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles.
The RPG market is currently crowded, and these projects deserve the time needed for players to fully immerse themselves in their stories. Obsidian appears to be taking valuable lessons from this experience, and hopefully, these games will find their audiences in due time.
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After deciding against an $80 price tag for The Outer Worlds 2, Xbox leadership states that Microsoft will continue to listen to fan feedback while ensuring a “healthy business.”
