Obsidian Entertainment was one of Microsoft’s busiest studios in 2025, releasing three games in the short 12 months of the year. While two of its role-playing games, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 were favorably received, only one of them fits into the studio’s future.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Obsidian is not currently working on a third entry in The Outer Worlds franchise, and is instead exploring ideas that expand on the setting introduced to players in Avowed. Avowed itself lives within the Pillars of Eternity universe, of which there are multiple Obsidian-developed games, so it might not be surprising that this is where the studio is choosing to continue focusing efforts.
The interview delves into how the single studio managed to put out three games in a single year, with studio design director Josh Sawyer chalking it up to unexpected project timelines, scope pivots, and poor planning. “Spacing those releases helps the company manage its resources and not burn everybody out,” Sawyer says. “It’s not good to release three games in the same year. It’s the result of things going wrong.”
