Microsoft is presently officially the publisher of ‘Future Iterations’ of the outer worlds

Microsoft has authoritatively taken over publishing rights for “future iterations” of The Outer Worlds from Private Division, and that news showed up a day after Take-Two Interactive’s president said the organization was completely dedicated to the franchise.

During Take-Two Interactive’s Q4 2021 earnings call (through Seeking Alpha), CEO Strauss Zelnick affirmed that The Outer Worlds has sold in excess of 3 million units since it was released in October 2019. Later in the call, Take-Two president Karl Slatoff answered a question regarding the Obsidian Entertainment-created game, expressing that the organization was not just amped up for the fate of The Outer Worlds, however was happy to be a part of it.

“And we will be participating in the franchise and whatever the future holds for that franchise,” Slatoff said. “So we feel really good about it. And we think that it’s still building audience and this game itself has a lot of life left in it. And in the future — we’ll see what the future holds for it. But we do think it’s a long-term franchise and it is certainly something that we’re pleased with the results.”

Take-Two’s comments on being involved with The Outer Worlds’ future were of note chiefly because of the way that Microsoft bought Obsidian in 2018, and Slatoff’s comments caused it to appear like it would hold publishing rights for new installments in spite of that.

Private Division cleared up the confusion in a statement to Gamasutra, saying that, while the organization would still be supporting 2018’s The Outer Worlds, Obsidian and Microsoft would deal with the publishing of future iterations.

“Private Division is still supporting and marketing The Outer Worlds, including the upcoming release of Murder on Eridanos DLC on Nintendo Switch,” said the company. “Moving forward, Obsidian and Microsoft will be publishing future iterations in the franchise, and we’re absolutely thrilled to see where they take it.”