The Outer Worlds 2 Developers Find It Hilariously Ironic They’re Making Anti-Corporate Games Under Microsoft

The Irony Isn’t Lost on Anyone at Obsidian

Leonard Boyarsky, co-director of The Outer Worlds 2, recently addressed the elephant in the room with refreshing honesty. “It’d be ridiculous to say we don’t notice that,” he told GamesRadar when asked about the irony of their situation. The man’s got a point – you’d have to be blind not to see the comedic timing here.

The original Outer Worlds was a biting satire of corporate culture, painting a picture of a future where companies literally own entire planets and treat human lives as expendable resources. Now, the sequel is being developed under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella, which is… well, owned by Microsoft. You know, the company that’s been buying up game studios like they’re collecting Pokemon cards.

But here’s the thing that makes this whole situation even more delicious – Microsoft doesn’t seem to be interfering with the creative vision. At least, that’s what Boyarsky and his team are claiming. They insist they still have the freedom to mock corporate overlords, even if their paychecks are technically signed by one.

Microsoft: The Surprisingly Hands-Off Corporate Overlord

What’s genuinely surprising is how Microsoft has been handling this whole situation. You’d expect a company of their size to be breathing down the developers’ necks, making sure nothing in the game hits too close to home. Instead, they seem to be taking the approach of “make the game you want to make, just make it good.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this pattern, either. Microsoft has been relatively hands-off with many of their acquired studios, letting them maintain their creative identity while providing the financial backing they need. It’s almost like they understand that heavy-handed corporate interference is exactly the kind of thing that gets mocked in games like The Outer Worlds.

The cynic in me wonders if this is just good PR – let the developers say what they want while the real control happens behind closed doors. But given the track record of other Microsoft-owned studios maintaining their creative vision, maybe they really are just letting Obsidian do their thing.

Why The Corporate Satire Still Hits Different

The beauty of The Outer Worlds’ corporate satire isn’t just that it’s funny – it’s that it’s uncomfortably accurate. The game presents a world where corporations have replaced governments, where your worth as a human being is measured entirely by your productivity, and where even basic necessities like water and air are commodified.

Sound familiar? Yeah, that’s because we’re already living in a version of that world, just with slightly better marketing.

The sequel promises to push this satire even further, which is both exciting and slightly terrifying. In a world where we’re increasingly dependent on massive corporations for everything from our entertainment to our basic communication, having a game that holds up a mirror to these power structures feels more relevant than ever.

The Outer Worlds 2 Bosses Think It’s Funny They’ve Made an RPG About Evil Mega-Corporations

The developers at Obsidian aren’t trying to hide from the irony – they’re embracing it. There’s something refreshingly honest about acknowledging the weirdness of your situation instead of pretending it doesn’t exist. It shows a level of self-awareness that’s often missing from corporate communications.

And let’s be real here – if you can’t laugh at the absurdity of modern corporate culture, you’re probably going to go insane. The fact that a game mocking corporate overreach is being funded by a mega-corporation is peak 2024 energy. It’s like something straight out of a cyberpunk novel, except it’s actually happening.

What This Means for Gaming’s Future

This whole situation raises some interesting questions about the future of gaming and corporate ownership. Can truly subversive art exist within corporate structures? Or does the fact that Microsoft is funding this game automatically neuter its bite?

The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. The Outer Worlds 2 might not be able to specifically call out Microsoft by name (though honestly, that would be amazing), but it can still deliver sharp commentary on corporate culture in general. And sometimes, that’s enough.

The gaming industry has always been weird about corporate ownership and creative freedom. Publishers want to make money, developers want to make art, and somehow they have to find a way to coexist. The fact that Microsoft is letting Obsidian continue making games that essentially mock everything they represent is either a sign of remarkable corporate maturity or incredibly sophisticated marketing.

The Bottom Line on Corporate Irony

At the end of the day, The Outer Worlds 2 developers thinking it’s funny they’ve made an RPG about evil mega-corporations while being owned by Microsoft is exactly the kind of dark humor that makes the gaming industry fascinating. It’s messy, it’s complicated, and it’s probably going to result in a game that’s both funded by corporate money and deeply critical of corporate power.

Will the final game pull its punches because of Microsoft’s involvement? We’ll find out when it launches. But if the developers’ attitude is any indication, they’re not planning to let their corporate overlords stop them from making the game they want to make.

And honestly? That might be the most punk rock thing about this whole situation.

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