077 - Outer Wilds [Prep Kit]

[GoatedQuest 077 Prep Kit]

- Outer Wilds -

Developed by Mobius Digital

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Released May 30th, 2019 for Microsoft Xbox One & PC

Ported to Sony PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, & Nintendo Switch

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"Outer Wilds is a first-person space exploration game where you uncover the mysteries of a solar system stuck in an endless time loop. Blast off into a fully physically simulated cosmos and seamlessly journey from one planet to the next as you search for the answers hidden in the unknown."

- Official Website

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US "Box" Contents
(Originally Released Digitally, Archived August 19th 2019)

Epic Games Store store page promo loop

NOTE: EGS lists the release date as May 28th, 2019. For the sake of this Prep Kit, I'm deferring to Mobius Digital's Release Date Announcement blog post HERE which says May 30th.

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Pre-Release Coverage

Outer Wilds 2012 (Pre-Alpha)

Outer Wilds Will Sate Your Inner Adventurer - Rock Paper Shotgun (June 24th, 2013)

All you really need is your curiosity, and it's a wonderful feeling to have that sense of adventure confirmed by the game. I flew towards what I believed to be a space station, but what turned out to be twin planets with a roaring column of dust filling the void between the two. The rest can be discovered via the game's map, and combining that with the auto-pilot is an easy way to see what this strange corner of the universe has to offer.

2015 Independent Games Festival announces Main Competition finalists - PR Newswire

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) juries have announced the Main Competition finalists for its prestigious 17th annual awards, honoring the most influential and outstanding development in independent video games. The IGF has nominated over 30 extraordinary game titles released in the past year.

Mobius Designers Win IGF! - Mobius Digital Blog (March 5th, 2015)

MOBIUS DIGITAL TO FINISH DEVELOPMENT OF IGF WINNER OUTER WILDS
Mobius Digital Blog (June 8th, 2015)

We here at Mobius Digital are very proud to announce that we are beginning development to complete Outer Wilds, the 2015 IGF Grand Prize Winner. An alpha version of the game won top honors as well as Excellence in Design this March. The game lets players explore a universe both tiny & infinite, uncovering alien wonders and oddities, searching for the answers to the unknown mysteries that seize their solar system.
The creative core that made Outer Wilds will continue to be at the heart of creative development at Mobius. Creator Alex Beachum has been a designer at Mobius since early 2014, and we'll be retaining the same level designer, composer, writer, and other integral members from prior development.

Outer Wilds Vertical Slice - Space Walk (August 17th, 2015)

A look at the new art direction for Outer Wilds, 2015 winner of the Seamus McNally Grand Prize and Excellence in Design awards at the Independent Games Festival

Fig Crowdfunding: Announcing Outer Wilds, the first campaign to launch on Fig!

Outer Wilds Fig Campaign page - Archived September 2nd, 2015

Fig turned away $925,000 of investment on its first crowdfunding campaign - Polygon (October 15, 2015)

Bailey said that after the first three days in which Outer Wilds received so much investment interest, his team made the decision to slam the barn door shut, so to speak, by closing the campaign to any more expressed investment interest. But, just as they went to fasten the latch, another $50,000 of interest came in followed closely by yet another $200,000 of interest in any future campaigns Fig might offer.

Alex Beachum for Forbes 30 Under 30 - Games (January 4th, 2016)

We've Announced! - Mobius Digital Blog (March 15th, 2018)

Outer Wilds is about backpacking in outer space - Venture Beat (March 15th, 2018)

The gravity in the game is real. I saw a ball that was on a flat surface. It moved. Beachum explained that the planet has a moon, and it has a gravitational pull that affects the planet.

Die over and over again in the beautiful solar system of Outer Wilds - PC Gamer (February 21st, 2019)

Often, I’d find myself ignoring a trail of clues in order to go explore another phenomenon - partly to uncover new leads, but mostly because it looked interesting. This isn’t some vast, procedurally generated universe. The handful of handcrafted planets ensure that wherever you land, you’re sure to find something, even if it’s just a weird rock.

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Developer Interviews

Road to the IGF: Alex Beachum's Outer Wilds - Game Developer/Gamasutra (Jan 26th, 2015)

As part of our Road to IGF series of interviews with nominees, we talk to Alex Beachum, Outer Wilds' Creative Director, and Sarah Scialli, its Producer, about the production of the game, as well as some of the more unique elements that make it such a compelling place to explore.