The developer studio Owlcat Games is making a game in the universe of The Expanse, and it is inspired by a legendary role-playing game.
What is The Expanse? The Expanse is a sci-fi series based on the eponymous book series and is included in the streaming offerings of Amazon Prime, among others.
The series tells the story of James Holden and his crew, who get caught in a political conflict spanning six seasons. This conflict has erupted between the government of Earth, a rebel group living in the asteroid belt, and a human colony on Mars with its own government.
As the plot unfolds, a strange energy emerges, which the conflicting parties see as a potential advantage over their competitors. I have already introduced you to The Expanse in more detail on MeinMMO.
Now the developer studio Owlcat Games has announced that they are developing a role-playing game in The Expanse universe: The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will be released for Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. Here you can see the first trailer:
Political Tension, Romance, and Action
What kind of game will this be? The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will be a role-playing game that expands on the story of The Expanse. It does not retell the story of James Holden and his crew but creates its own narrative. In this, you assume the role of a mercenary.
Your story begins with a deadly lockdown that traps you in a space station on the asteroid Eros. Consequently, you must take control of a spaceship as its captain and lead your own crew. The story is expected to revolve around political tensions and moral complexity, with romance also playing a role – after all, you’ll spend a lot of time on the spaceship with your crew members, getting to know each other better.
Your crew members serve as companions in typical role-playing fashion on your missions, each with their own motives and whose loyalty depends on your choices. You can take 2 companions on each mission, who are directly involved in the combat. The battles themselves take place from a third-person perspective with cover mechanics.
In the Footsteps of Mass Effect
Which legendary role-playing game does The Expanse remind you of? Sci-fi setting, a galactic crisis, third-person with cover mechanics, companions with stories and motivations, romance – all this sounds very much like Mass Effect, and even when looking at the trailer, parallels should quickly become clear.
This is no coincidence, as game design producer Yuliya Chernenko reveals: “The Mass Effect trilogy was an absolute inspiration for our team.” The role-playing series left a lasting impression on the developers.
Mass Effect is a true role-playing legend and is generally regarded as one of the best role-playing games of the past 20 years. The entire series has a score above 90 on the review platform Metacritic, led by Mass Effect 2 with 96. That’s quite impressive.
Successful Game Studio with RPG Experience
What you need to know about the developers: Owlcat Games is known for the games Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous – both are popular and successful role-playing games.
Pathfinder even made it into MeinMMO’s list of the best role-playing games on Steam in 2024, impressively featuring multiple endings and plot twists, as well as a variety of options for character creation. It is based on the eponymous pen & paper and is an evolution of Dungeons & Dragons.
MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus is a big fan of Pathfinder and has spent over 340 hours in the role-playing game. He has played through it multiple times, even though that is typically uncharacteristic for him. You can read more about it here: A role-playing game on Steam captivated me for 100 hours in 2 weeks
