Obsidian’s Most Successful 2025 Game Might Mean a Big Change for the Company

Game development is in an interesting place right now, as the industry at large wrestles with the mixed desire to maximize profits while also crafting games that engage with audiences on a deeper level. For a long time, the belief was that blockbuster AAA games were the key to success, with their massive budgets justified by even larger profits. However, after a number of high-profile flops and studio closures, the industry is course-correcting.

One of the most intriguing examples of this evolution can be found with Obsidian Entertainment. While they spent years developing some of their biggest titles, it was their most unassuming title that became the biggest success for the company in 2025. Looking forward, the studio is already adjusting accordingly, with their underlying principle as game developers seemingly shifting in the process to focus less on AAA titles and more on how to replicate the success of their surprise hits.

Grounded 2 Was The Biggest Success Obsidian Had In 2025

The success of Grounded 2 compared to the more lackluster performances of Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 has Obsidian considering altering their development cycles. 2025 was an interesting year for Obsidian Entertainment. One of the many game developers that falls under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella, the developer had three major releases. The open-world fantasy RPG Avowed launched in February for Windows and Xbox Series X/S, while the sci-fi narrative-driven RPG The Outer Worlds 2 launched for Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S in October.

Both games received solid if not stellar reviews but largely failed to make an impression in award season. More crucially, both games underperformed commercially. While Avowed might get a boost when it comes to PS5 this year, and neither game could be considered an outright flop, their financial struggles have been a blow to the company. By contrast, Grounded 2 found real success when it launched into early access in July of 2025, picking up over 3 million players within two weeks of early access. Grounded 2 did have the previous game to build on, but the same could be said for The Outer Worlds 2. The difference is their relative scale in terms of cost.

While The Outer Worlds 2 was a major release that saw decent returns, Grounded 2 got an alpha release just a few weeks after it was formally announced and garnered plenty of good attention. Obsidian Entertainment head Feargus Urquhart has acknowledged the divide in success and has been speaking about how he and the rest of the management team at Obsidian need to “think a lot about how much we put into the games, how much we spend on them, how long they take.” This suggests that Obsidian is actively looking at the lengthy time investment and high cost that game development cycles can take nowadays and weighing whether it’s worth the effort — or if they should become more focused on success stories like Grounded 2 and what they say about development in the current market.

Why Obsidian Might Be Moving Away From Long Development Cycles

Long development cycles have become an albatross around the neck of the gaming industry, with some of the biggest AAA titles taking years to complete and ship — only for a lackluster response from the player base leading to a massive financial loss for the company. That’s one of the things that makes Avowed‘s struggles more frustrating, as the game spent nearly seven years in development — including a hard shift after two years into production to make it feel less like a riff on something like Destiny. Following all that work, the middling reception has been a blow to the developers.

However, the success of Grounded 2 highlights how, sometimes, a creative idea bolstered by a tight budget and quick turnaround can become a major success. It’s also helped ensure Obsidian is able to off-set the losses they suffer from their larger disappointments, ensuring that they remain less under the radar than other companies at Xbox Game Studios. The company’s demands for better profit margins have been a challenge for plenty of game developers that fall under their banner, but Obsidian’s success with smaller games alongside their blockbuster titles has given them a bit more safety. Still, given Urquhart’s comments about how the developer is “learning” from their recent misfires, it seems inevitable that the developer is going to have to switch things up a bit.

It’s possible that Obsidian leans more heavily into their smaller titles like Grounded and avoids the lengthy development cycles that have dominated their former AAA releases. The news that there won’t be an Outer Worlds 3 also suggests that the company is looking to move past their current state and into smaller, tighter productions for games like Grounded 2 and Pentiment. Making that move might be the right call for Obsidian, and taking the right lessons from Grounded 2‘s success could be the key to the developer’s future.