Obsidian on getting RPG difficulty right in The Outer Worlds 2

At the Game Developers Conference, Obsidian senior systems designer Robert Donovan described the challenge of dialing in The Outer Worlds 2’s difficulty and the franchise’s familiar reverse curve: RPGs often start punishing and grow easier as characters gain power.

Donovan noted that fantasies of growth—numbers going up—work against keeping challenges aligned with player strength, a problem visible in other RPGs as well. Early on, Obsidian mapped enemy health and damage to a curve pulled from Emerald Veil and aimed for a flatter progression so characters would only be twice as strong rather than exponentially more powerful.

That “crushed” progression felt unsatisfying; small upgrades didn’t land. “Getting a 1.5% upgrade didn’t feel meaningful,” Donovan said, so the team shifted toward bigger boosts—about a 10% hit—to make choices feel immediate, which encouraged varied and overpowered builds.

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