Fun, fantasy and dedication to role-playing games reign supreme at Obsidian

Joe Fielder has had a subversive agenda for almost 20 years. Like most secret plots, it probably went unnoticed that he’s been good at executing it. Unlike such plots, though, his intent is decidedly more wholesome: to make people laugh.

“I’ve tried to sneak humor into games that shouldn’t by any rights have any humor within them,” says Fielder, a principal narrative designer for The Outer Worlds 2, which launches Oct. 29 on Xbox Series X|S, PCs, PlayStation 5 and cloud gaming. “This is the first time where it’s a part of my job to do that.”

The Outer Worlds 2 is a role-playing game (RPG) set in a wild west-like sci-fi future in a colony called Arcadia, where multiple factions vie for control. Being a good subject of one of those factions means proactively engaging in “mental refreshment” – aka brainwashing.

“There’s a lot of Protectorate humor that comes from how much people are willing to give up for a sense of security. Would you give up any shred of independent thought if you could eat surf-and-turf every night?” Fielder says.

Read the rest of the story over on the Source channel.