Owlcat developing EXPANSE video roleplaying game inspired by MASS EFFECT

Owlcat Games are developing an action roleplaying game set in the world of the Expanse novels and TV series. Osiris Reborn is in development now and marks the developer's first non-top-down RPG project.

The game focuses on a Pinkwater Security mercenary trapped on Eros Station during a deadly lockdown. Presumably they escape during the chaos and gain control of their own ship, which they use to travel the Solar system in search of answers and money. The game will feature some crossovers with the TV show, with some of the actors reprising their roles. The game will feature multiple familiar locations from the extant IP, including Ceres, Ganymede and Mars.

Owlcat, currently based in Cyprus, with teams operating around the world, is best-known for their massive, in-depth adaptations of existing IP. They have released two huge RPGs based on the Pathfinder tabletop roleplaying game, Kingmaker (2018) and Wrath of the Righteous (2021), and the Warhammer 40,000 RPG Rogue Trader (2023). They are currently developing a new 40K RPG, Dark Heresy. Osiris Reborn is being worked on by a new team independently of those projects.

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is a marked shift for the company, as it will be a combat-heavy, over-the-shoulder action RPG focusing on a customisable captain character. Romances will be in the game. This is clearly heavily inspired by Mass Effect, in the same way their earlier games were heavily inspired by Baldur's Gate and its sequels. This is also the second video game project based on The Expanse, after The Expanse: A Telltale Series (2023).

First WARHAMMER 40,000 video roleplaying game announced

Owlcat Games have confirmed they are working on the first-ever Warhammer 40,000 CRPG. The developer is best-known for their video games in the Pathfinder fantasy roleplaying setting.

The CRPG is called Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, sharing a name with both the original 1986 incarnation of the miniature wargame and the 2009 tabletop roleplaying game from Fantasy Flight. This version of the WH40K franchise sees the player take command of a semi-independent starship as it trades between the various worlds of the Imperium and, sometimes and controversially, various alien species. Although Rogue Traders serve the Imperium and the Emperor, they also have leeway to act on their own initiative, despite the risk of being infected with heresy.

Rogue Trader will allow you to build a party from various classes and - heresy! - several races, including Terran and Eldar. The game is set in the Koronus Expanse, a dangerous frontier region, where the player will have to overcome obstacles through roleplaying and turn-based combat.

Owlcat previously developed the Pathfinder adaptations Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous. Both games were highly praised for their storylines and variable outcomes, although also criticised (and praised!) for some old-school, hardcore design decisions.

Games Workshop also confirmed a number of other video games based on Warhammer properties are in development, including a retro-FPS called Boltgun that looks like Doom with a 40K makeover.