The Expanse Meets Starfield In This Sci-Fi RPG You Can Play Free Now

Published Sep 26, 2026, 12:45 AM EDT

Sharmila is an engineer-turned-gaming hardware journalist and freelance contributor at ScreenRant who has been covering the gaming and tech industry since 2021. While she first built her expertise writing about video games, she has since pivoted towards gaming hardware, with a focus on PC components, peripherals, handhelds, and performance-driven tech. When she’s not testing gear or writing about the latest hardware trends, she can usually be found diving into competitive shooters or keeping up with the evolving esports scene.

Somewhere between the gritty, corporate-scarred politics of The Expanse and the wide-open galaxy-hopping of Starfield is a promising sci-fi RPG that’s been quietly sitting on Xbox Game Pass. While this competitor is popular in its own right, plenty of fans of the other franchises still haven't taken advantage of its free availability for subscribers.

If you liked how The Expanse handled corporations treating human lives like line items, or how Starfield lets you wander from planet to planet building your own story, there's never been a better time to playThe Outer Worlds. It’s included with Game Pass Essential and higher, so if you own a subscription, there’s genuinely no reason not to boot it up tonight.

The Outer Worlds Is A Must-Play Sci-Fi RPG On Xbox Game Pass

For context, The Outer Worlds sets you up as a colonist who was supposed to arrive at the edge of known space decades ago. However, your ship got lost, and by the time you’re finally woken up, everything has gone sideways. The colony of Halcyon is run entirely by megacorporations, and when I say “entirely,” I mean it: the security forces, the currency, and even basic medicine all trace back to some board of directors who never have to look anyone in the eye.

Developer Obsidian Entertainment built a world where every faction wants something from you, and the fun is in deciding who deserves it. What sells it, though, is how much room you get to be a jerk, a hero, or something messier in between.

In The Outer Worlds, dialogue choices actually branch, and companions push back on your decisions instead of just nodding along. There's also a flaw system where the game notices when you keep getting hurt by the same enemy type or keep falling for the same trick, then offers you a permanent debuff in exchange for a perk point. It's a strange little mechanic, but it fits the game’s whole attitude of leaning into your mistakes instead of pretending they didn't happen.

The Outer Worlds’ Choices Make Its Sci-Fi RPG Stand Out

The combat system in The Outer Worlds is nothing special on its own—it's first-person shooting mixed with a time-slowing ability called Tactical Time Dilation—but it does its job. Most importantly, it doesn’t get in the way of the writing, which is really the star here. The humor is sharp and cynical without tipping into exhausting, and most side quests come with actual choices attached instead of just fetch-and-return busywork.

The Outer Worlds isn’t a huge game either. You can finish a playthrough in around 15 to 20 hours if you aren’t chasing every side story, which honestly works in its favor. Compare it to some massive open-world RPGs that ask for 80-plus hours before the credits roll, and there's something almost refreshing about a game that knows exactly how long its ideas can sustain a player’s attention.

With The Outer Worlds 2 having launched in 2025 and grabbing most of the spotlight lately, the original game from 2019 is naturally losing attention. But if you are yet to try this series, you should definitely start with The Outer Worlds. Both these games are included with all tiers of Xbox Game Pass, so if you’ve got a subscription and a free evening, there’s really no excuse to not try them out. Go see where Halcyon’s mess of corporate greed and dark comedy takes you. Who knows, you might end up loving it and wishing more sci-fi RPGs took this many risks with their writing.