GoKawiilDuring the Xbox Partner Showcase, a new trailer debuted for studio Owlcat Games' upcoming sci-fi title. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, is set in the universe of the beloved books and show. After chatting with the developers, I have a clearer idea of just what story the game will tell. Best of all, players will get to try it out next month.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, due out in Spring 2027, was first revealed at Summer Game Fest last year, with a cinematic peek at the game, but the new trailer shows gameplay footage to give players a sense for what's waiting for them in the full release. With cover-based combat, squad coordination, abilities and a space sci-fi setting, the game looks a lot like BioWare's beloved Mass Effect trilogy from the 2000s -- which is just one of several games that inspired Osiris Reborn.
Franchise fans won't have to wait long to get a taste of the game. The closed beta will arrive on April 22, 2026, providing a full mission for gamers to field a three-person squad to defeat enemies with their gunplay and abilities. Players will get to choose between preset character builds with different origins: An officer or a hacker, either a man from Earth or a woman from the asteroid belt (called a Belter in the universe's parlance).
The playable beta will also lend insight into the game's connection to the books and show. It takes place after the alien protomolecule first spreads through Eros station and before the extrasolar Ring is activated (e.g. between the end of season 1 and the middle of season 3 of the TV show). Through the mission, players will collect materials to upgrade their equipment, improve their skills and use magnetic boots to walk up and down surfaces experiencing zero-G, traversing walls and ceilings.
It's a small glimpse at what the final game will deliver. Ahead of the Xbox Partner Showcase, Owlcat developers gave the media a chance to ask their burning questions about the game in a group interview, from how it connects to the greater story told in The Expanse media to how it takes inspiration and differs from Mass Effect.
Owlcat Games
What The Expanse: Osiris Reborn does differently from Mass Effect
Just looking at The Expanse: Osiris Reborn's new trailer reminds me a lot of Mass Effect, and there are plenty of other similarities. The upcoming game's combat is heavily based on cover shooting. There are six companions to recruit (and potentially romance), from which players will draw to fill a three-person squad into missions alongside their main character.
After hearing from Owlcat Studios developers, that's no accident -- when I asked them in the preview about it, they noted that many on the team played and loved those games. What they took from it was "the feeling, the impact on the player that Mass Effect had," game design producer Yuliya Chernenko said.
Leonid Rastorguev, the game's director, acknowledged Mass Effect's influence on the team, but in contrast he insisted that Osiris Reborn will stand out on its own apart from BioWare's beloved games.
... continue reading