Outer Wilds developer Mobius Digital confirms its next game is in the works

After the incredible Outer Wilds and its Echoes of the Eye DLC, the space game’s developer is putting it down to create something new.

When you think of the greatest space games, it's easy to default to scale. The thousands of planets of Starfield, the infinite galaxies of No Man's Sky, the swirling systems of Eve Online, and the sheer expanse of Elite Dangerous. Outer Wilds is different. It's smaller, tighter, meticulously designed down to the smallest grain of sand. Yet despite that, or perhaps because of it, developer Mobius Digital created the most enrapturing and memorable game about interstellar exploration ever made. Now, the team confirms that it's hard at work on something new.

The development of Outer Wilds walked a weird and winding path. The space game started its life back in 2012 as the master's thesis project of creator Alex Beachum. By 2015, it was being transformed into a full, premium game by Mobius Digital with support from publisher Annapurna Interactive. Outer Wilds as we know it eventually launched in 2019, and it didn't take long for the whispers to start circulating that it was something special.

The clockwork universe of Outer Wilds is like none other, and each time you revisit it and grow more familiar with the intricacies of its planetary cycles it becomes ever more of a spectacle to behold. Its sense of place, masterful use of environmental and non-linear storytelling, and delicate balance of galactic wonder, existential melancholy, and slapstick physics accidents make it a game I'd recommend to just about anyone, even if it's not traditionally in your wheelhouse.

Outer Wilds patch 16 has just hit Steam, and it's on the way to other platforms soon. It fixes a handful of bugs, including certain control inputs being disabled when you switch focus away from the game window (such as by using alt+tab to check another screen). On PC specifically, diagonal movement is no longer faster than normal when playing with a keyboard and mouse. The update also makes some extra text and UI fixes, and adds a couple more names to the credits.

Perhaps more notable, however, is the note at the end. "As mentioned before, there are no more major updates planned for Outer Wilds or Echoes of the Eye," Mobius writes, "because we are hard at work on our next game. There may be smaller updates like this from time to time, but no guarantees. Nevertheless, always feel free to report issues or reach out for help on our support page."

The task of following up a game as distinct and magical as Outer Wilds seems impossible; hopefully, with its success, Mobius is free to take the time to make exactly what it wants. I'll certainly be watching with keen interest, whether it ends up as a full Outer Wilds sequel, a space-based spiritual successor, or something entirely different altogether.

If you're always watching out for the next upcoming PC games, be sure to check our list of the latest and greatest. Or try another of the best single-player games you can enjoy today.

You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We've also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.