The Outer Worlds, the critically-acclaimed sci-fi RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, is finally coming to Steam after a year-long wait. At launch, The Outer Worlds was only available on PC via the Epic Games Store. This is because of a one-year timed exclusivity deal which Epic signed with the game’s publishers. At the end of this week, however, that year-long period comes to an end.
The Outer Worlds Steam Release Date
First released in October of last year, The Outer Worlds was the first game developed by Obsidian after the studio was acquired by Microsoft in November of 2018. The game, which drew obvious comparisons to the Fallout franchise, received very positive reviews. (In stark contrast with Fallout 76, of course, which launched to universally negative reviews and was mired in controversy for months.) Fan support from Obsidian, largely stemming from their development of Fallout: New Vegas, also contributed to better-than-expected sales; the game sold more than 2,000,000 copies.
The Outer Worlds wasn’t just well received, but also well-awarded. It took home the Best Original Game award at the 2019 Game Critics Awards, for example, as well as RPG Game of the Year at the D.I.C.E. Awards and “Most Promising New Intellectual Property” at the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards. Since then, it has come to Xbox Game Pass, which further helped it garner a wider audience. Its first major DLC, Peril on Gorgon, launched on the 9th of September. More post-launch content is on the way.
At present, The Outer Worlds is available on every platform, including the Nintendo Switch. However, its exclusivity deal with the Epic Games Store has kept it off of Steam. This Friday, on the 23rd of October, that exclusivity deal ends and The Outer Worlds finally launches on Steam. As such, PC gamers who don’t use the Epic Games Store, or who opted to wait for its Steam launch, will finally be able to get their hands on it.