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Looking pretty interesting. Definitely a lot more than I was expecting them to be releasing already. Looks like they have actually been doing a lot of work.

Graphics are incredible. Some of the animations need work but this looks great. Humor was a little bit of a miss for me though.

https://www.polygon.com/game-awards-tga/2018/12/6/18129122/the-outer-worlds-trailer-obsidian-ps4-xbox-one-windows-pc-tga-2018

Looks like the original co-creators of Fallout are leading development for this game.

That's a very strong opening presentation, ticks a lot of boxes for me. The aesthetic is really nice, a bit Fallout meets Firefly (though perhaps a bit more 70s than 50s), and everything looks very polished visually. Good sense of humour contrasted with what looks like quite a dark setting. Only brief glimpses of game-play, but they seem nice and slick. And of course, Obsidian have an excellent pedigree behind them.

The big thing in its favour is also the promise of a 2019 release; announce, build hype, release it within the year to an audience that is still interested. Compare it, for instance, to the Dragon Age 4 teaser; it's nice to have the game confirmed, but the rumours still have it as at least 2 years out if not 3 or 4, and that's not uncommon in the industry these days (see also Cyberpunk, Spidey, RDR2, all very long wait times). It's refreshing to have something that's going to be out fairly shortly after its announcement, assuming no delays.

Given the people working on it and what I saw in the trailer I am very excited for this game.

Having the original Fallout Dev's is a huge bonus in my book too.

 Paradigm wrote:
That's a very strong opening presentation, ticks a lot of boxes for me. The aesthetic is really nice, a bit Fallout meets Firefly (though perhaps a bit more 70s than 50s), and everything looks very polished visually. Good sense of humour contrasted with what looks like quite a dark setting. Only brief glimpses of game-play, but they seem nice and slick. And of course, Obsidian have an excellent pedigree behind them.

The big thing in its favour is also the promise of a 2019 release; announce, build hype, release it within the year to an audience that is still interested. Compare it, for instance, to the Dragon Age 4 teaser; it's nice to have the game confirmed, but the rumours still have it as at least 2 years out if not 3 or 4, and that's not uncommon in the industry these days (see also Cyberpunk, Spidey, RDR2, all very long wait times). It's refreshing to have something that's going to be out fairly shortly after its announcement, assuming no delays.

They also have Microsoft behind them now, too. With Microsoft's resources (money, marketing, QA department, etc.), this can be something really big. And, I can't help but wonder, was Microsoft thinking the same thing when making the deal to buy Obsidian? There will definitely be comparisons made between this and Fallout, and with the problems surrounding Fallout 76's release, I suspect MS thinks a little gamble on this being a solid competitor to Fallout is a good idea. .

Microsoft isn't necessarily a good thing in this case, as they aren't involved in the publishing of this game.

This is a previously established publishing deal with Take 2's side project company, Private Division. Microsoft has agreed to let the publishing deal stand, apparently, But... they might not be agreeable about giving the game more time if it needs it, or letting Obsidian do much support or follow-up after it gets published. (Something that has happened before, see KotoR2, and if we're talking people and not companies, Arcanum, Vampire and Temple of Elemental Evil)


I'm not as sold on Tim and Leonard (the Fallout Devs) being behind this one either. It's been a long time since they worked together (probably Arcanum? Maybe Vampire or Temple of Elemental Evil at Troika), so I've no idea if their styles will still gel. And they don't have the original fallout teams behind them either, which can make a big difference.


It is pretty, but... that trailer looks a lot more shooter than RPG. And the hype train is far more negative than anything solid, based on being some sort of anti-Fallout 76 and not Bethesda. That could come back and bite it in the end, if the game isn't what people are building up in their minds.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:


They also have Microsoft behind them now, too. With Microsoft's resources (money, marketing, QA department, etc.), this can be something really big. And, I can't help but wonder, was Microsoft thinking the same thing when making the deal to buy Obsidian? There will definitely be comparisons made between this and Fallout, and with the problems surrounding Fallout 76's release, I suspect MS thinks a little gamble on this being a solid competitor to Fallout is a good idea. .

I could totally see that being a big push for the game. I didn't know about it until very recently when all the 76 hoopla statted happening. It also ticks a lot of boxes for me and with in the laSt few years my taste in games have become very narrow. I might seriously pick this one up

Obsidian making Bethesda look obselete.

Maybe let Obsidian make TES VI too?

Whilst it is not (from what I can tell) a game which would usually interests me (not a fan of shooters or significant humour in games) Obsidian are my favourite development team... So probably buying the £60 (or whatever) special edition on day of release...

Can't help but feel disappointed about something though. This is not an announcement for Tyranny 2 (favourite game of last five or so years) or Kotor 3 (Kotor 2 is my favourite all time game).

While I like tyranny (except for the quick end act and the terrible dlc), it did pretty poorly. Don't expect a sequel ever.

Especially with MS holding the reigns now. Given Deadfire did poorly sales wise, also expect Pillars 3 to be Obsidian's fallout 3 or baldur's gate 3. (A sequel that never happens, but passes into a legend that nothing could ever live up to anyway.)

And kotor 3, if it happens ever (unlikely), will go through an EA approved someone. Obsidian doesn't have any claim at all of doing a sequel.

On the other hand, several of the obsidian higher ups have expressed an interest in doing a Skyrim style game, even before MS bought them. Expect the chances of that to go up a lot.

-----
On this game, there have been several articles saying this is going to be significantly smaller than New Vegas. I'm not sure what that means, since while the -area- of new Vegas was big, it was mostly empty and devoid of content. They may pack more interesting stuff in despite smaller area maps.

I think it has been hinted at that Obsidian really wants to do a Skyrim style game set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. They already have the lore set up for it and all. It would be a great move for a fantasy FPS.

Yeah, but if they did that before Pillars 3, (or worse, AS pillars 3), their fanbase would explode.

It would be glorious, glorious rage.

.. and a lot of whining.

Given the dismal sales of Deadfire and the niche nature of Isometric RPGs, I do not foresee a Pillars 3 for any reason.

Is it just me, or does anyone else get the feeling that someone at Obsidian has been watching a lot of Rick and Morty?

 Dreadwinter wrote:
Given the dismal sales of Deadfire and the niche nature of Isometric RPGs, I do not foresee a Pillars 3 for any reason.

Doesn't mean their existing customer base won't flip out if they don't do it.

Mind you, said base should already be feeling pretty shakey. PoE happened based on Kickstarter (and Fig for Deadfire) and an outgrowth of Obsidians fairly terrible legacy with publishers on Kotor 2 (and the legacy of Troika's problem with the same), so coming under Microsoft's thumb is already a sign of the apocalypse.

I don't see it as a problem with the isometric niche though. PoE1 did well, sales wise, and the genre is having a happy resurgence lately. Deadfire just... wasn't very good, and while personally I didn't think the story in the first one was either, paying for full voice over on Deadfire likely bled a lot of profitability out of it.


@LordofHats- Probably just dipping into the same inspiration well for the same type of humor. Or the Rick and Monty folks played Black Isle/ Troika games when younger. They seem like the type to enjoy the recurring sheep brothels and 'sloppy ghoul action' style jokes.

Voss wrote:
While I like tyranny (except for the quick end act and the terrible dlc), it did pretty poorly. Don't expect a sequel ever.

I know, very unlikely to get a sequel. So much so that I am considering war-gaming it. 28mm Hoplites as Vendrian Guard, 28mm Celts and Zulus as Scarlet Chorus and either 28mm Samurai or Fireforge Russians as Disfavoured. Maybe even tzeentch horrors as Bane and GW beastmen as Beasts.

So, I got around to watching the trailer and am moderately intrigued...but I can't seem to find a version of the 14 minute gameplay reveal video that doesn't have a bunch of warbling berks talking over it, does one exist?

Update on this one: eaten by Epic games and the MS store.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pcgamer.com/amp/the-outer-worlds-and-control-will-launch-on-the-epic-store-not-steam/

Yo ho, yo ho...

Haven't sailed the seas the last 15 years but I think it might be time to hoist the flag.

It's really a shame. Was looking forward to the game but I refuse to give money to companies who sell their soul to Epic.

Voss wrote:
Update on this one: eaten by Epic games and the MS store.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pcgamer.com/amp/the-outer-worlds-and-control-will-launch-on-the-epic-store-not-steam/

God damn it.

Forgive my ignorance but why the hate for Epic Games?

 Nostromodamus wrote:
Forgive my ignorance but why the hate for Epic Games?

The store that they're forcing people to use for these PC-exclusive games is very consumer unfriendly and on top of that it's pretty iffy with user security since there is info/data leaks with their platform tied to their majority shareholder Tencent, which is heavily implied to be funnelled to the Chinese government.

More specifically, Tencent is attempting to implement a business model common in China where they attempt to shut out competitors so they can form an essential monopoly. They do this by excluding competitors from the market one at a time until they're basically the only one left. Right now the target is Steam. They call them "Epic Game Store Exclusive" games but they're really just "Exclude Steam" games. Many of these games are still being sold on Amazon, GoG, and Humblebundle, or directly from the developer/publisher producing the game. Literally the only terms in the contracts seem to be not selling on Steam (which is incredibly illegal and will probably get Epic Games sued for unfair business practices).

Makes me sad. I had such high hopes for this game, now I will not be getting it.

"Exclusives" on PC goes against everything the PC Master Race believes in.

HOIST THE SAILS! (We need pirate Orkmotikons!)

It's also some bizarre deja vu. You'd think everyone would notice the console market, namely the way that forming gamers into feifdoms is limiting to business and players. Sony and Microsoft basically gave up on trying to hog exclusive titles outside of their Flagship franchises (basically their own IP). Nintendo has gotten by, but Nintendo has to make hit after hit to keep itself running and has struggled constantly to expand it's market because of how it manages itself. If not for market dominance on hand held they'd have gone bankrupt four or five times in the last 20 years.

The console wars already happened. Do we really need a repeat on PC?

I think it has been building up honestly. We have Steam, GoG, Origin, and some others I cannot think of. Now you have Discord and Epic trying to muscle their way in. I mean it makes sense as a tactic, to want to have exclusive titles so people have to use your service. But it is an awful business tactic because of how PC players tend to deal with situations like this. Which is, RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!

 Dreadwinter wrote:
I think it has been building up honestly. We have Steam, GoG, Origin, and some others I cannot think of. Now you have Discord and Epic trying to muscle their way in. I mean it makes sense as a tactic, to want to have exclusive titles so people have to use your service. But it is an awful business tactic because of how PC players tend to deal with situations like this. Which is, RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!

Yup. Honestly despite how annoyed the whole affair makes me, I suspect Epic will run out of Fortnite riches long before they "dethrone" Steam. If anything it's GoG that will suffer as the big boys throw rocks at each other, unfortunately.

The actual "threat" to PC gaming is Stadia IMO, because it does the one thing that Epic can't do, the thing that's required in order to implement a walled garden if you're not the platform owner; move the entire process off the platform entirely.

You can't pirate a streamed game. You don't own it and so how long you get to use it is determined by the publisher. You have no choice but to interact with it entirely on their terms, on their timetable, at their sufferance. While that remains one option among many it's not a problem, but part of the reason I sincerely hope Epic's strategy here fails and fails very, very badly is that's about the only thing I can imagine that might make Google pause and consider not going down that road - if Stadia ends up buying exclusives, "PC gaming is dead" - at least in any form we recognise - won't just be a meme anymore.

While I agree with the sentiments above(I’d rather Steam remain king, mainly because thats where my entire library is, aside from MWO).

 LordofHats wrote:
. Do we really need a repeat on PC?

After reading an article about how Metro: Exodus sold 2.5 times the amount that Metro: Last Light sold (caveat being that Epic Games is the source for that tidbit), I think the writing is on the wall.

Also the article(from Forbes) flabbergasted me when it stated that Valve gets a 30%, or 20 for big earners, cut of sales on Steam. Pretty outrageous, in my opinion. I knew they got a cut but was thinking it was like 5%, maybe 10% at most. After reading that, I’m honestly suprised its taken this long for Steam to get serious competition. They’ll need to adjust against Epic Stores flat 12% plus free use of Unreal Engine. I can understand completely why devs might be very interested in the switch. It sucks for us as consumers, but I get it.

And I am getting kind of sick of Steam to be honest. Alot of straight up garbage to scroll through to find something interesting. I know you can edit your feed to suit your gaming needs and preferences, but even that isn’t good enough. I like shooters, RPGs and strategy games, and I tell them as much, so why the feth am I seeing ads for, or even be told of the existence of, this weeks borderline(or just straight up) hentai moneygrab thing. Or a game with graphics and gameplay that would make a Gen 1 Nintendo proud. I have no experience with Origin, GOG or Epic Store, so I’m not sure if its the same thing on that side, but its getting tiresome.

I believe Steam saved PC gaming in a way, but I think their time in the sun is almost up, barring extensive changes.

 nels1031 wrote:
Also the article(from Forbes) flabbergasted me when it stated that Valve gets a 30%, or 20 for big earners, cut of sales on Steam. Pretty outrageous, in my opinion.

Yeah. I'd generally agree with the sentiment that Steam has enjoyed being king of the hill a little too much. I think Epic Games will probably go under, both because the model for their platform is hideous and because they're not EA and don't have a ready stable of established product lines to prop up their platform. The Unreal Engine might boost them a bit but honestly it's not the same market it once was. Most big developers have in house engines now, and while a free engine is a huge boon, being cut off from Steam's massive base hardly seems like a worthy trade. I suspect many will be woo'd in the short term, but when the exclusivity starts producing failures in and of itself it'll become untenable.

I'd like Steam to maybe loosen up a bit. Maybe offer some better rates. I don't like what Epic Games presents, but Steam being the only real competitor is only slightly better.

Thing is, people recoil from the 30% thing, but that's pretty standard, and providing a platform on the scale of Steam isn't cheap. Not to mention, if you buy a Steam key from a third party, whether that's a physical box or GoG or Humble etc, Valve don't get a penny, but they still have to provide you with bandwidth to download it, and hosting the patches and mods for it for you and so on.

There's no question Valve were getting far too comfy as things were, but they're not quite the villain they're being portrayed as.