Owlcat Games has built a devoted following off the back of dense, isometric RPGs like Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Rogue Trader. So when the studio announced The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, most fans probably assumed they knew exactly what they were getting. According to a new preview from Destructoid, they would have been wrong.
The preview describes the game as carrying a strong Mass Effect energy - a comparison that feels significant given how long fans have been waiting for something to credibly fill that void in the third-person sci-fi RPG space. The game is set in the universe of The Expanse, the sprawling hard sci-fi series created by authors James S.A. Corey, which already has a rich lore foundation to build on.
A pivot worth paying attention to
What makes this preview particularly noteworthy is the genuine surprise behind it. The writer at Destructoid admits to going in with zero familiarity with The Expanse IP and fully expecting another text-heavy, top-down experience. What they got instead was something that apparently channels the cinematic, conversation-driven adventure that BioWare used to own before that studio lost its footing.
Owlcat pivoting away from its established formula is a real gamble. The studio's fanbase was built almost entirely on a very specific type of RPG experience - one with tactical combat, sprawling character builds, and walls of lore text that reward patience. A Mass Effect-style third-person RPG is a very different product requiring very different design muscles.
Why this matters for RPG fans
The Mass Effect-shaped hole in the market has been obvious for years. BioWare's own attempts to recapture the magic with Andromeda and then the shift to Dragon Age have left a lot of fans cold, and the long-awaited Mass Effect 4 remains a distant prospect. If Owlcat can genuinely deliver on the promise suggested by this preview - a narrative-driven, character-focused sci-fi RPG with real production values - there is a massive, underserved audience ready to jump on it.
The Expanse as a setting also gives Owlcat a strong launchpad. The series is known for its grounded, politically complex take on space colonization, factions in conflict, and morally grey characters - all ingredients that slot naturally into the kind of RPG storytelling Owlcat already excels at, just in a new format.
No release date has been confirmed yet, but based on the Destructoid preview, Osiris Reborn is already generating the kind of genuine excitement that most games take a full marketing campaign to build. Worth keeping a close eye on.
