01 · Outward game hub
Outward game wiki & guides
The PlayWiki Outward wiki: Nine Dots Studio's open-world survival RPG — the game players keep unearthing as a Skyrim alternative — with every date, price and mechanic checked against the Steam store page, and the Outward 2 launch tracked as it approaches.
Open-world survival RPG · Nine Dots Studio · Buy-to-play · Definitive Edition on Steam since May 17, 2022
All Outward pages & guides
In progress: beginner survival guide · co-op setup · region-by-region Aurai primer.
Why PlayWiki covers Outward
Outward first launched in 2019, and the Definitive Edition — the version on Steam today, since May 17, 2022 — bundles the original game with both expansions. It never had a blockbuster launch window, yet it keeps resurfacing: whenever players go hunting for a Skyrim alternative, or a survival RPG that respects their patience, Outward climbs back into the conversation — right now it's back on store shelves at a deep discount, and the sequel has a confirmed date.
The pages here follow the same rule as the rest of PlayWiki: every fact is checked against a primary source — the Steam store listing and its official API first — and anything unverified is marked instead of guessed. Prices carry the date they were checked; dates move, and we say so where they can.
What kind of game is Outward?
Outward is an open-world survival RPG, and the survival half is not a bolt-on mode — it is the point. The official Steam description casts you as "just your everyday adventurer": you manage hunger, thirst and sleep, protect yourself against hazardous weather, and treat infectious diseases instead of shrugging them off. Backpacks matter; what you carry shapes how far you can go. There is no fast travel, so every expedition across Aurai is planned, packed for and survived rather than fast-forwarded.
The role-playing half is equally deliberate. Skills are learned from teachers rather than granted by level-ups, combat runs on weapon-specific movesets where commitment and weight beat button-mashing, and the game is happy for you to lose an encounter and deal with the consequences. Two players can share all of it: the Steam listing includes online co-op, shared/split-screen co-op and Remote Play Together, with full controller support — a rarity for open-world RPGs at any price.
The version sold on Steam today is the Definitive Edition (the listing has carried that name since May 17, 2022). It natively includes both expansions — The Soroboreans and The Three Brothers — alongside quality-of-life improvements, so there is no edition math to do before buying: one purchase, the complete game.
Playing Outward in 2026
2026 is a strange and good moment to start Outward. The game is seven years old, but the Definitive Edition means the content question is settled, and the store has been discounting it aggressively — at the time of writing (October 14, 2026) it sits at $1.99, 95% off its $39.99 list price, per the Steam store page. Promotions like that come and go, so treat the number as a snapshot; the price to compare is always the live one on the store page.
The community conversation around the game has also found a second wind: Outward keeps resurfacing wherever players hunt for a Skyrim alternative or a survival RPG with real teeth, and that debate — where it genuinely fits next to Skyrim and where it doesn't — is exactly what our Outward vs Skyrim comparison is for.
And then there is the sequel: Outward 2 is listed on Steam for a February 7, 2027 Early Access launch (checked October 14, 2026), deepening the same systems — no mounts, no fast travel, weather that kills. Starting the first game now means going into the sequel fluent in its language; the confirmed date and everything else official is tracked on our Outward 2 release date page.
About the game
Outward is an open-world survival RPG built around one inversion: you are not the chosen one. You are an ordinary traveler who has to eat, sleep, treat disease, carry a backpack, and walk everywhere — no fast travel, no mounting up. The Definitive Edition on Steam folds in The Soroboreans and The Three Brothers expansions, and supports online co-op including shared/split-screen play.
- Developer
- Nine Dots Studio
- Genre
- Open-world survival RPG
- Model
- Buy-to-play
- Steam appid
- 794260
- Keywords we cover
- outward game alternative to skyrim · outward 2 release date