Real Cosmonaut and Former ISS Commander Joins Development of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn

Leroy Chiao advises Owlcat Games.

Owlcat Games, the studio behind Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, has published a new developer diary for The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.

The video highlights how the team is working to make life in space feel authentic while ensuring realism doesn’t become a gameplay obstacle. To that end, the studio brought in a genuine space veteran — former NASA astronaut and ISS commander Leroy Chiao.

Chiao helped the developers understand the real challenges of living and working in open space and find compromises between authenticity and player convenience. A vivid example is performing tasks outside the ship. In reality, astronauts are constantly tethered with long lines, but in Osiris Reborn that would feel awkward and annoy players. Instead, Owlcat introduced magnetic boots: they enable smooth, natural movement along a hull while retaining the principal danger — the possibility of accidentally detaching and drifting into open space.

Source: iXBT.games