Players will assume control of the protagonist, an Earth Directorate Agent, who is tasked with uncovering the source of emerging rifts that threaten to destroy the colony amidst a factional war.

As with its predecessor, the game is played from the first-person perspective and involves alternating between various combat, stealth and dialogue systems when encountering hostile non-playable characters in the overworld.

The game also retains its predecessor's dialogue tree system which influences the branching story paths depending on how the player interacts with their party and other supporting characters throughout the narrative.

[3] While the arrangement did not affect the game's original distribution plans,[4] Microsoft acquired all publishing duties for "future iterations" of The Outer Worlds from Private Division by May 2021.

[15] A full trailer unveiling gameplay and story details was presented at The Game Awards (TGA) in December 2024, which additionally confirmed a 2025 launch window, making it the second Obsidian-developed title to release that year following the studio's forthcoming Avowed that February.