Obsidian explains how different endings work in The Outer Worlds

Obsidian has explained how The Outer Worlds‘ “drastically different” endings work.

The sci-fi RPG, which recently won the Game Critics E3 2019 award for Best Original Game, is being co-directed by original Fallout creators Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky.

The Fallout influence is clear in Outer Worlds’ multitude of player choices, which its developer says will affect the way the story develops, as well as players’ character progression, companion stories and endgame scenarios.

Obsidian has previously claimed Outer Worlds will feature “drastically different” endings. In a recent interview with VGC, Boyarsky said that these story variants will be based on two core path choices.

“At the end of the game there are slides to show how you affected different things,” he explained. “There are two basic paths at the end: whether you sided with Phineas or The Board. That’s kind of the first beat of the end: how that played out and what that choice was.

“After that you get a whole series of slides that talk about the results of your actions and the consequences of the choices you made throughout the whole game,” he added.

“They talk about the different people that you encountered, the different areas that you entered, how you solved certain quests and what that means for the future of the colony.

“So there are quite a few different endings. I haven’t added up all the different permutations, but there are quite a lot of variations.”

Asked if it was correct that there are two major paths with smaller diversions within them, Boyarsky said: “Yes. You side with Phineas or you side with The Board, then after that you see that choice coupled with all the other things you decided to do in the game and how that plays out for the colony as a whole.”

The Outer Worlds release date is October 25, 2019 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.

The game is set to be released by Take-Two publishing label Private Division, which was established in 2017 to work with independent developers.

Private Division signed The Outer Worlds prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of Obsidian, which was announced at E3 2018.