If you’ve been following the crowd-funding and -investing platform Fig, you might remember the campaign for Outer Wilds. The game raised $126,000 back in September 2015, but it had been in development long before that. However, since its successful campaign, developer Mobius Digital has been pretty quiet. However, Mobius announced today that it has secured a publisher, Annapurna Interactive, and that the game will launch on PC and “additional platforms” this year.
Outer Wilds is a gorgeous-looking adventure game that is set in an open-world solar system “stuck in a time loop.” What that means, exactly, is unclear, but you can see from the announcement trailer that there’ll be a lot of spaceflight, action, exploration, and campfires.
It’s easy to compare it to No Man’s Sky, but Mobius makes a point of differentiating it in important ways. Specifically, Outer Wilds is not procedurally generated–the solar system is large, but it’s “hand-crafted,” according to a press release.
“The planets of Outer Wilds are packed with hidden locations that change with the passage of time,” the press release states. “Players can visit an underground city before it’s swallowed by sand, or explore the surface of a planet as it crumbles beneath their feet. They also have access to a variety of unique gadgets that help them probe their surroundings, track down mysterious signals, decipher ancient alien writing, and roast the perfect marshmallow.”
Annapurna is best known as the publisher for a variety of cool indie games, from What Remains of Edith Finch to Gorogoa. The addition of Annapurna has allowed Mobius to finally announce a release window for the game, as well. Outer Wilds is currently slated for launch in 2018 on PC and other, currently unannounced platforms.
