"Almost immediately in The Outer Worlds 2, the player receives news of a corporate shake-up: Auntie Cleo and Spacer's Choice, two of the in-game retail brands, have merged to form Auntie's Choice. Less a chain of stores and more a feudal power, Auntie's Choice manages its employees - serfs, really - with the cruelty of the balance sheet, its military business far more important than the faux-cheery public-facing purveyor of somewhat-useful crap customers can't get from anyone else."
"The fictional business news parallels real-world business news. Right before developer Obsidian Entertainment began work on The Outer Worlds 2 in 2019, the studio was acquired as part of Microsoft's game developer shopping spree. Less than a decade later, Microsoft's gaming division doesn't seem to be flourishing despite its incredibly deep bench of talent; in 2025, the company's games efforts have largely been characterized by price hikes, layoffs, lopsided priorities, and an all-consuming interest from the company's top brass in becoming an AI company."
The Outer Worlds 2 portrays Auntie's Choice, a merger of two retail brands that functions as a feudal megacorporation prioritizing military contracts and treating workers like serfs. The game's corporate narrative parallels real-world consolidation and the 2019 acquisition of Obsidian Entertainment by Microsoft, set against broader 2025 trends of price hikes, layoffs, shifting priorities, and an industry focus on AI. The studio remains active and channels concerns about concentrated power into role-playing scenarios that examine how institutions and individuals wield authority, offering satirical and topical critique through interactive storytelling.
Read at The Verge
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