• Interview
• Video

Obsidian's Feargus Urquhart on how experience & opposites shaped The Outer Worlds

We caught up to Obsidian Entertainment Studio Head Feargus Urquhart at the DICE 2020 Awards to talk about being picked up by Microsoft, the success of The Outer Worlds, and more.

TJ Denzer

March 3, 2020 4:53 PM

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The Outer Worlds had itself a nice showing at the DICE 2020 Awards, picking up Role-Playing Game of the Year, and with good reason. The game was a return to form at Obsidian and featured everything that made Fallout: New Vegas one of the most fun RPGs around and then some from years of lessons learned since. Obsidian Entertainment's Feargus Urquhart was on hand to talk about The Outer Worlds at DICE 2020, including what it’s been like since getting picked up by Microsoft, the success of The Outer Worlds, and the distinct humor of the game to name a few.

Fortunately, it seems Obsidian is having an easy time working with Microsoft. It seems like Microsoft Game Studios is taking a very hands-off approach that allows studios like Obsidian to proceed and develop how they will.

When asked about the commentary on corporate satire in The Outer Worlds, Urquhart was happy to share what went into the ideas behind it.

“Creative Director Leonard Boyarsky, in particular, is really sort of a little bit darker, and that was always the special sauce between him and [Co-Director] Tim Cain,” Urquhart explained. “Tim was the lighter person, and so the idea was to create that sort of ironic humor. You put it in this world and it’s kind of dark and kind of weird. Making toothpaste that suppresses hunger so you don’t complain against the government and things like that that… both of those guys together created that special class of humor that makes the game and the world fun to play in.”

Be sure to check out the entire video above to hear more about how experience shaped the evolution of The Outer Worlds. Don’t forget to check out the full reveal from Obsidian on Grounded at PAX East 2020 as well.

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TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.