Obsidian creative director Leonard Boyarsky tells Polygon that The Outer Worlds 2’s politics are sometimes a bit too timely.
« If we had started this series in 2020, 2019, or any time in between there, I’m not sure that I would have had the intestinal fortitude to push through on these kinds of topics », Boyarsky tells Polygon.
One such topic involves an early-game questline where you meet a band of refugees displaced by conflict between the Auntie’s Choice corporation and the Order of the Ascendant, a religious group that worships science. Auntie’s Choice will only help the homeless people willing to sell themselves to the company, since nobody deserves a free lunch. The Order, meanwhile, thinks that providing only their basic needs and teaching them how to elevate themselves will suffice, never mind the rampant sickness in the refugee camp, or the lack of future prospects and living space.
It’s not hard to see the parallels to contemporary issues and the political philosophies that gave birth to them in this instance and many others throughout the game. Heck, a government that regularly brainwashes its citizens to ensure their continued loyalty is a major story beat.
