The Outer Worlds 2 is officially released, and it is already such a game that it can laugh at itself—satirical and very modern with all corporate regulations. The game is out and Obsidian made the great announcement that the Premium Edition is available right now for those who just can’t hold their horses, and others can only get it on the standard launch day, that is, October 29, if they are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. It is here, it is real, and the reactions? They are all over the place, my friend.
The community’s reaction was a strong mix of pure joy and deep skepticism. A case in point is that Justin Mabb almost went crazy praising the game and claiming that he has “never played a UE5 game this buttery smooth with practically no performance issues on console.” He even put it quite positively compared to recent releases by saying that he “STILL can’t play Borderlands 4 every update breaks it more”—that is indeed a strong endorsement and has classified it “10x better than the 1st one in literally all aspects” and called it “truly Fallout in space.” High praise, especially for a sequel whose release has been long awaited.
But the flip side of the coin is there as well. Some gamers are very quick to point out that the price is prohibitive. A user on 3DMert was very blunt: “Not paying $100 for a video game.” _XyGoT_ also expressed that because “the game is being cracked already,” they will “wait a few weeks until its on sale at a quarter of the price.” This is a statement that has become common in recent times; rather than wait for new releases—especially premium editions—to drop in price, shortage of sales means continuous waiting for the new norm.
It was mentioned that the game is also suffering from performance issues, as main game launch technical issues have become the norm. A few users of Xbox Series S have reported issues. Both Hemidi Selim and c_cavalino have highlighted the same problem: “I can’t switch between the quality mode and balance mode on Xbox Series S.” That bug is definitely a specific, annoyingly subtle one but it can very much influence the overall perception of the game.
Meanwhile, a user by the name of Wolverain_chi25, who we will assume is French based on their nickname, has drawn attention to the kinetic blur problem on the Xbox Series X stating that the lowering option does not stick and it gets reset to default which results in unclear graphics. They have quite politely asked for a quick solution. So it seems like performance is excellent for a select few on Series X, meanwhile Series S and some PC setups are receiving the slightly exposed weak points of their shields. Justin Mabb did praise the game in general but admitted that “PC definitely needs a performance patch though,” implying that user experience is not perfectly tuned across platforms.
The launch event was not smooth for early access either. ChamonRazor tweeted a plea for help: “I preordered the premium version but it won’t let me play, help please.” And Faigunz was patiently waiting for Xcloud support for early access saying “nothing so far!” It is that typical early access mad rush where you pay for the right to play early and then… you are not allowed to. It’s always a letdown.
However, the chaos did bring about some beautiful moments. The official Halo account congratulated, saying “sci-fi fans eating well today” which is a nice touch from one Microsoft family member to another. And couldnthinkawun simply stated “Congrats on the release legends!!” which is always a nice gesture.
But, of course, it is natural that not every person is going to be happy. Some went beyond just the usual complaining and criticism. Tonyriosx888 implied that they have “exhausted all possibilities to label games of the West as they are all based on woke”—which is all Western games anyway. Additionally, a user named toofpase raised a meta-question: “Is the joke that the corporate slop is aware of corporate slop?” referring to the game’s own themes. It is a funny and almost too-self-aware observation of a game that makes fun of capitalism.
There were practical questions as well from the ever-curious potential buyers. _sukharev_ quickly shot a bunch of questions: “what is your game about?”, “steam deck support?” and the time-old comparison, “is it better than skyrim?” NaeemJatoi directly inquired “Any review code available for PlayStation?” showing that interest in the PlayStation camp even though the tweet focused heavily on Xbox Game Pass.
And there is always that plain and simple, unfiltered demand for features. Golly__G made a threat/plea: “If there isn’t space travel I’m gonna freak the fk out.” Let’s just hope for their sake that there is.
So, what is the final decision? The Outer Worlds 2 has been released, it is causing a huge buzz, and the first player reviews are indicating the traditional split: those who have the perfect experience, and those who encounter glitches or are put off by the high price. It seems that Obsidian has mostly done a good job of giving the gamers a solid, improved sequel that runs well for most, but it is not a flawless launch for every single player or platform. The discourse is alive, the game is alive for Premium Edition owners, and the rest of the gaming world will have to wait until October 29 to join the corporate-sponsored fun. Whether you are jumping in now or holding back, the discussion around this sequel is just beginning, and it is already messy, passionate, and completely wild. Just how we like it.
