The Outer Worlds 2 is finally getting its DLC. Obsidian has announced that Side Effects Guaranteed, the first of a "two-part expansion" series, will launch on December 2. The devs had been promising DLC since before launch as part of the RPG's $100 Premium Edition, but you'd be forgiven for worrying that those promises were forgotten amid the massive shakeup at the studio.
The first part of Side Effects Guaranteed will offer a new region to explore on Eden, a boosted level cap with new perks grab, four new flaws to spice up your build, new gear, and an additional radio station. The story will have you working with one of two Sub Rosa agents as you decide what to do with the hibernating crew of a derelict ship.
We spoke with Obsidian about The Outer Worlds 2 DLC shortly after the game's launch last year, and at that time they'd only begun to sketch out plans for the expansion. But at least one thing has carried over from those high-level ideas: "Maybe we'll lean a bit harder into some of the more minor factions, like Sub Rosa, and build them out a little bit," game director Brandon Adler told us in 2025, and that part of the plan seems to have borne out.
But a lot has happened at Obsidian since we had that chat. It's now under Bethesda's direct management and working on a new Fallout game as part of Xbox's big shakeup. Obsidian was not immune to the mass layoffs at the publisher, and seemingly had an Avowed sequel stripped away as Xbox pointed it to return to the more lucrative Fallout franchise.
While The Outer Worlds 2 was one of our favorite games of 2025, it never appeared to make much of a splash among the broader gaming community. Its fans feared that slow sales might lead to the DLC being canceled, and there's still some fear that the expansions have been truncated so Obsidian can move onto Fallout more quickly.
