At the recent Xbox Developer_Direct 2024 broadcast, Obsidian Entertainment shared its most comprehensive look yet at its upcoming fantasy-action RPG, Avowed. But even that only scratched at the surface of what's coming your way this fall. On today's special episode of The Official Xbox Podcast, Avowed Game Director Carrie Patel and Gameplay Director Gabe Paramo shared an extended look at the quest showcased during Developer_Direct, providing more detail on the moment-to-moment experience of the flexible combat system, and where this side quest fits in the larger narrative of Avowed.

This latest look at Avowed gives us a good idea of what to expect from Shatterscarp, one part of the ecologically diverse island of The Living Lands, all in the same universe as Obsidian's CRPG series Pillars of Eternity. But what makes Avowed a very 'Obsidian game' goes far beyond the commonality of setting in the world of Eora. "It's really about our player-centric approach to role play," Patel shared during this week's Podcast. "The way we really approach consequence and choice is giving players the opportunities to define who they are in this world, how they want to behave - what fantasy, what challenges they want to undertake." It's all part of Obsidian's "your worlds, your way" approach, and players will feel the weight of their choices moment-to-moment with every slash, parry, and spell cast.

Today, Private Division and Obsidian Entertainment announced The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon, the first narrative-led expansion for the critically acclaimed, darkly humorous sci-fi RPG, is now available for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, across the Xbox One family of devices, including Xbox One X, and Windows PC. The expansion will be coming later to Nintendo Switch. The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon is available individually or at a discount as part of The Outer Worlds Expansion Pass, which will also include The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos, the second expansion set to launch in the first half of calendar 2021. The Outer Worlds won numerous awards upon its release last year including "Best RPG" from IGN, "Best Role-Playing Game" from Game Informer, and "Game of The Year" from Destructoid.

Peril on Gorgon begins with a cryptic message beckoning you to investigate the Gorgon Asteroid. This remote scientific facility was once a beacon of crowning achievement in developing Adrena-Time, a modern marvel which improved health and worker productivity. However, the program was abruptly and inexplicably shut down. You must venture through deep canyons, defunct laboratories, and abandoned research facilities to piece together the clues that hold the truth behind one of the darkest secrets within the Spacer's Choice corporation. What will you find on Gorgon?

AMD Monday released the latest version of Radeon Software Adrenalin. Version 19.12.1 beta adds support for the new Radeon RX 5300M graphics. It also fixes a major issue with Radeon RX 5700-series graphics cards stuttering at 1080p with low game settings. A crash-to-desktop noticed on machines with RX 5700-series graphics playing "The Outer Worlds" has also been fixed. Grab the drivers from the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 19.12.1

The change-log follows.

AMD has released the Radeon Software Adrenalin 19.10.2 beta drivers. These drivers bring improved support for "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare," which sees up to 18% better performance on the Ultra preset when using a Radeon RX 5700 XT. "The Outer Worlds" also sees improved support and sees 8% better performance at the Very High preset again on the Radeon RX 5700 XT. Improved support and better performance are always welcome; however, this release also offers some much-needed fixes, including application hang in Borderlands 3, which will likely make quite a few gamers happy. For a full list of fixes and known issues, check the full change-log below. Otherwise, you can grab the new driver from the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 19.10.2 Beta
The change-log for 19.10.2 follows.

It seems that the EPIC Game Store exclusivity saga is still coming strong, with not one, but two AA games coming to PC that are exclusive to the new games distribution platform. Obsidian's The Outer Worlds is likely one of the most anticipated RPG games this side of Fallout 76, and Remedy has always been known for great single-player games that push the boundaries of the medium - and sometimes wreck those boundaries completely, as it happened with Quantum Break.

Now, both games are known to be part of EPIC's Game Store in a time-limited exclusive format for one year after launch, much like has happened with Metro Exodus - though here there is no sudden Steam departure to be met with. The Outer Worlds will also be available in Microsoft Store, true (Obsidian is now part of Microsoft's Game Studios, remember?).

Obsidian Entertainment, which have recently announced their latest videogame in the form of "The Outer Worlds", have now come out of woodwork to assuage some fears gamers might have. In an increasingly microtransaction-ridden digital world, and perhaps not helped by the Microsoft acquisition that Obsidian Entertainment has undergone, fears of microtransactions being added to the game that's expected to be a Fallout spiritual successor naturally grew. Timothy Cain, original creator of Fallout, in an interview with Gamestar, put those thoughts to rest. He said, in no uncertain terms that "There are no microtransactions in the game. You buy it once and then enjoy it forever."

New screenshots and details for the game have also been made known, including an interesting "Flaw" system, which pairs with the now well-known "Perk" to give players debuffs for some of their "weak traits" during gameplay in exchange for perk points. Companions with their own motivations and storylines, choice-driven gameplay with some emergent dynamics, are all part of the recipe. Check out the screenshots and Obsidian's own explanations of some of the games' features after the break.

Obsidian Entertainment, which was recently acquired by Microsoft in its efforts to bolster its first-party studios, has announced a new video game set for release in 2019. Titled "The Outer Worlds", it's a first-person RPG with a focus on single-player and story - it seems more Fallout than Fallout, really, which should come as a surprise to virtually no-one: this is the game studio that developed Fallout: New Vegas and that still holds the talent of some of that franchises' early creators.

The game seems to be striking a balance between Fallout and Borderlands, both in the art and setting department and overall design. If so, this could be an interesting take on the genre, though we'd hope for either a really strong storyline or some innovative mechanics to set itself apart from other offerings that are crowding this particular strata of the gaming world: Borderlands, Rage, Fallout, and now Far Cry New Dawn are all exploring stretches of this setting. We'll be here to look at what a current-gen Fallout game might be without the Creation Engine - and multiplayer focus like Fallout 76.