When Obsidian Entertainment announced The Outer Worlds 2 this year with a vague teaser that made fun of itself, it was easy for fans to assume the development is in an early stage. However, according to a new report, work on the sequel has begun even before the original Outer Worlds launched in 2019.

It's no secret that Obsidian has a stacked plate at the moment, with multiple projects being developed alongside each other. Apart from Avowed, which may end up going up against Elder Scrolls 6, there are at least two more games on the table, including The Outer Worlds 2.

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As originally pointed out by Twitter user Faizan Shaikh, who carefully examined the LinkedIn pages of Obsidian developers such as director Dan Maas, the sequel has seemingly been in development since September 2019, a month prior to the original Outer Worlds launch across PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Based on this, Faizan Shaikh assumed that the follow-up has a good chance of launching earlier than expected. For example, if it launched in late 2023, it would have had a total of a four-year development cycle.

Despite the initial CG-teaser for The Outer Worlds 2 giving us nothing more than a title itself, Obsidian has more than once hinted at how progress on the sequel is moving on. Back in August, studio design director Josh Sawyer revealed that both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 are in playable states, seemingly confirming that some work has been done for the franchise's next chapter prior to its reveal to the public. With that in mind, it's possible that we could see more of the title during The Game Awards 2021 on December 9.

We still don't know exactly whether or not The Outer Worlds 2 will be an Xbox console exclusive, but there's a very strong possibility that it won't arrive on PlayStation — despite the original entry launching on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms.

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