The Expanse: Osiris Rebornis Owlcat Games' upcoming third-person shooter RPG set within the iconic sci-fi universe, and it’s quite a departure from the team’s typical releases. A studio that cut its teeth developing isometric CRPGs with gripping narratives, crunchy mechanics, and unique systems, Owlcat Games also has a proven track record with adapting existing franchises with care and detail. Most recently, its CRPGWarhammer 40,000: Rogue Traderwas regarded as one of the franchise’s best video games, largely due to how Owlcat managed to capture in excruciating detail the essence ofWarhammer 40k’s brutal universe. As such, the lore-richExpansefranchise appears to be in good hands.
Game Rant recently sat down with Owlcat Games Creative Director Alexander Mishulin, who detailed the development process behindThe Expanse: Osiris Rebornand what is ‘Owlcat’ about the game. Mishulin also shared more about its mechanics, features, and systems—including companion romance, character builds, and the customizable spaceship.This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Owlcat’s Pivot to Third-Person Shooters With Osiris Reborn
Q: Owlcat is best known for CRPGs. How has your experience in that genre helped you withOsiris Reborn?
A: It’s a new experience for us, and when we decided we were going to make athird-person action RPG, we started by making a lot of prototypes. This was back in 2021, and for almost a year, we were experimenting with exploration, combat—how it feels, how it plays. Only after we felt like we understood what we were making, and how we were changing the experience did we move into creating a vertical slice of the game and establishing all the necessary processes.
For example, we already knew how to write stories with choices and consequences—those processes, tools, and approaches were almost directly transferred from our previous experiences and games. But when it came to combat mechanics and exploration, we built those processes based on the prototypes we created. We also expanded our team with new members, some of whom had worked on third-person games—especially those who came from CD Projekt. We borrowed their expertise and incorporated it into our own development pipeline.
So this has been a big learning experience. But once we finalized those processes and proved out our vision for the gameplay, we moved into full production. Now, we’re actively developing a lot of the game itself.
Q: Owlcat’s games have some recognizable qualities. ‘Crunchy’ mechanics, deep character building, and secondary systems like kingdom management or colony development. What do you feel is ‘Owlcat’ aboutOsiris Reborn?
A:This time around, we are focused more on the story and the characters. Companions always were front and center in our games. We’re trying to make a lot of stories that highlight our characters, but this time around, we’re trying to give them an even bigger spotlight.
We are going on missions with a couple of companions, but the rest of the team is not left behind, just hanging somewhere. They will be helping you in many ways throughout your mission—like, somebody could be staying on the ship and helping from the ship, but it’s not like they’re just sitting there waiting until you return. Somebody could be going on a couple of objectives of their own during the mission and allowing you to filter in. Or, probably, your companions will form a second team and go through the mission alongside you, with some objectives and routes of their own. Sometimes they will be helping you, and sometimes you will be helping them.
They’re very much part of all the stories. They are always in contact with you, giving their opinions, giving advice on how to deal with unexpected situations, and everything. In our previous games, mini-games, and othersystems like kingdom management, colonization, or space combat—these were systems that allowed us to put our companions and characters into different situations, and allowed you to see them from different perspectives. Like, what Raquel would do as a commander of forces, or how Abelard would perform in a particular combat role on a spaceship. They allowed you to see them, a little, from their reactions to this new environment, and see them as more complex characters.
This time around, we don’t need this because the characters are just here alongside you on all of your journeys, and they’re not disconnected while you’re on a mission. So we don’t need these additional systems to put more spotlight on them. In this game, there will be no such complex mini-games that interact with the characters.
As far as number crunching—it’s also kind of different in this game, because it’s more of an action RPG. We want it to feel more accessible. This time around, we are more focused on the playstyles that you want to find and experience for yourself. Say you’re picking up an assault rifle, and it’s just a great assault rifle—but then you’re finding the next one, and the next one will be different. It will shoot faster or slower, deal more or less damage, and be more accurate. It may also have a secondary fire mode. And you just have to feel it to understand whether it’s a good fit for you or not.
The same goes for abilities you find. You will like some of them, you will not like some of them—and that’s okay. We are building a whole roster for you to find the abilities you like, and synergies you like, and build your own playstyle. And all the RPG systems beneath it allow you to build upon the choices you have made. So it’s more open. There are no classes—there are playstyles you’re building for yourself.
In a little sense, it could be compared a bit withSoulslikegames—but not in the way of the harsh experience, like running from bonfire to bonfire and everything—but in the sense of finding the weapon that feels right for you. For example, you’re not feeling great with great, huge katana swords because they’re slow, but you’re feeling great with light, very fast weapons—go for it. It’s the same here: find the weapon you like and build upon that.
Q: You mentioned playstyles. Can you give an example of two very different playstyles?
A:The two more obvious examples would be a playstyle that isfocused on gunplayand shooting—focused more on weapons, and picking up abilities that just support shooting better. For example, there’s a tactical resource that allows you to see enemies better in dim vision or behind cover—something like that.
On the other hand, it could be a player who is focusing on a lot of abilities and building up around the use of different abilities and the synergies between them. This player probably doesn’t want to aim a lot, or is maybe not really great at gunplay—but they’re building themselves in such a way that they are compensating for a lack of aiming skills with a particularly good set of abilities that work well together. Or maybe they put more emphasis on companions and their role in combat, and how they help them get through the fight.
Or it could be a mix—might be any of those things.
Q:The Expanseis well-regarded for having some hard sci-fi realism details, like how PDCs have thrusters on their backs to counteract recoil in space. With that in mind, what was your approach to realism inOsiris Reborn?
A:We want you to be immersed in theExpanseatmosphere. And for that, it should be gritty and realistic—becauseThe Expanseis just like that. It’s set in the near future. Well, notthatnear—like 300 years ahead—but still, on the sci-fi scale, it’s rather near.
A lot of the weapons you’re finding, a lot of the things you’re encountering, they feel very familiar to you because it’s an extension of our own world into sci-fi. When you experience some of the physical phenomena, it’s also realistic.
On the other hand, wedon’t want all that realism to frustrate youor prevent you from having a great time while playing the game, so we’re trying more to focus on the cool parts of physics—the cool parts of traveling in space and seeing different parts of the solar system. Not only the dangerous ones, but still… space is very dangerous and very unwelcoming inThe Expanse.
For example, decompression is a huge thing—if you’re hit with a weapon, that can play a major part in the experience and the conflict. So you can expect to encounter situations like that.
Also, we’re allowing you to get into your space suit and go experience a zero-G environment, like the characters in the shows and the books—when you feel the clicking of your magnetic boots and walk across the hull of a space station. It’s a completely different experience from just being inside the corridors of the station. It sounds different.
Even though we know there are no sounds in space when you’re shooting—but from an artistic perspective, and to provide you with proper feedback during gun combat in a zero-G environment, you have to have sounds. Otherwise, you’ll just be confused. But the sounds are presented in a way that’s not physically accurate—they rely more on your impression of space physics as a person. So it’s muffled and completely different from what you experience when fighting inside the station.
And going alongside the hull and having a fight there—that’s a very, veryExpansekind of thing to experience.
Q: What was most important to ‘get right’ aboutOsiris Reborn? Was there an aspect of the game that was central to achieving your vision?
A:We want you to feel that theExpanseuniverse is very authentic, very real, very gritty. And on the other hand, it’s still the future. It’s not like we can just make a real factory with manufacturing lines and everything—that would feel authentic, but it wouldn’t feel futuristic. Unless it’s, like, an Apple manufacturing line or something.
But what we want is for theExpansevisuals to feel familiar, yet a little bit different—and sci-fi. We had, like, seven visual passes with our artists to understand how to approach that. How do we convey that space is familiar to you, but still not quite what you know? It’s what you might see in 100 years or so.
And sinceThe Expanseis grounded in reality, we want the characters to feel realistic as well—with all their motivations, with all their stories. They should be relatable, interesting, complex—just like all the relationships inThe Expanseuniverse.
You’ll be encountering factions, and you’ll be encountering the politics between those factions. You can be part of that if you choose to. And making that feel authentically human—that’s also a big goal for us.
Q: What’s your relationship like withThe Expanse’s larger franchise? Did you consult with anybody about lore details?
A:When we started working on the project, we approached Alcon, who is the IP rights holder forThe Expanse, and we established a great working relationship with them—talking about things like whatThe Expanseis, whatThe Expanseisn’t, and how our vision fits within the establishedExpanseuniverse.
From the beginning, we wanted to tell our own story inThe Expanseuniverse. And that went very well with Alcon, because they also wanted to—sorry for the pun—expandThe Expanseto tell different
stories, not just retell the Holden adventure.
So your story is happening, according to the timeline, from the beginning of the first book to the end of the second book. Or if we’re talking about the show, from Season One to Season Two and a half. And it’s our own story, with our own characters, but adventuring inThe Expanseuniverse and seeing all the repercussions of the events in the books—sometimes meeting familiar characters, sometimes visiting familiar locations.
For example, we start on Eros, and you’ll be seeing some of the Eros events firsthand. Or you’ll be visiting Ceres and seeing all the repercussions of theCanterburybeing destroyed. So you are part of this universe, and all the Holden story makes a lot of waves through the solar system—and you’re experiencing them.
But still, you have your own problems. You have your own story, your own characters, and you’re making your own way through this web of intrigue and political interactions—which is even more complicated because of all the unfolding events happening during this time.
Q: I’ve been reading through the books lately and enjoying the subtle differences between the books and the series. How do those differences come into play for you? Do you have to decide between the ‘book version’ or the ‘series version’ of events?
A:Because we are telling our own story, it’s kind of a little bit easier for us. Like you said, the differences are subtle—and if you’re not retelling the same event, you won’t really notice whether something happened this way or that way, or whether a particular character appeared like they did in the second book, or like in the show, or not at all.
So yes, we will be meeting familiar faces—but we’re making sure that you’ll encounter them in situations that allow us to best depict those characters, and probably even expand on them a little bit. Not to show them in anewway exactly, but to place them in adifferentsituation.
Q: One of my favorite things about Owlcat games is the deep character building. Can you talk about what goes into bringing a build online for a character? What are the puzzle pieces players use to put together a build?
A:I can’t tell a lot of things beyond what I’ve already said about playstyles. I’ll elaborate a little bit on that, but not go into the depths of all the mechanics.
So, you’re picking up abilities and weapons and trying to find synergies—what feels right for your playstyle. And after that, once you’ve found a strength that you’re comfortable with,the RPG systemsunderneath allow you to choose some perks or mechanical stuff that support what you perceive as strengths for that particular playstyle.
It’s also very open. It allows you to focus on one element of your build, or to develop more equally between different parts of your build. That is our vision of you building your playstyle.
To continue with a particular example: say you have a Tactical Visor that allows you to see through cover and through smoke. There’s also armor-piercing ammo—it’s a device that you may use to give yourself armor-piercing shots. Put together, that allows you to spot a particular enemy through cover and shoot them through it. And that’s one of the synergies that’s present in the game.
Of course, that synergy slightly favors slower-shooting weapons, because it lets you pick specific targets more effectively. But it can still work well, for example, when you’re fighting in smoke and using an SMG—you’re still seeing where the enemies are. There are different applications for different enemy types.
But still, that’s one of the synergies you can find and build upon—like, “Oh, okay, I want to play like that.” And then, maybe, you’ll be looking for a slightly slower weapon, and probably build upon the strength of those shots and go that route.
That’s just one example. There are many.
Q: Earlier, you mentioned discussions with the IP holder about whatThe Expanseis and isn’t. Did you have any particular internal rules about what the game should or shouldn’t do?
A: It’s not like there are strict rules. We have a lot ofExpansefans working on the game—and it’s pretty much the same with all of our projects. Because initially, they often start as a pitch from fansinsidethe studio. And of course, after that, those fans join the team and work on the project of their dreams, the project they’re passionate about.
A lot of times, when we’re introducing something, some of the fans will say, “This doesn’t feel likeThe Expanseat all.” And okay—maybe it matches the vision of some fans, but not the vision of others.
Then we get together and discuss: why doesn’t it feel likeThe Expanse? How can we make it feel more likeThe Expanse, and not just likerealistic modern-day warfare, or some sci-fi adventure far in the future?
It’s not really a set of rules. It’s more of a gut feeling we share about the universe—and how something would work for a fan. But still, like I said before, we want to expand it a little bit.
For example, whileThe Expanseis rather gritty and dark, and a lot of its stories are tragic—when we’re telling ourExpansestories, we’re trying to show not just that. Of course, there’s a lot of tragedy, a lot of drama, a lot of emotion—but sometimes, some of the stories are a little more successful. They’re about people who managed to achieve something.
BecauseThe Expanseis realistic—and in the real world, there are both successes and failures. There are dramas that come with both, and there are a lot of emotions connected to all of it. So we’re trying to show the full spectrum—all of the range of those emotions and stories.
Q: Owlcat has worked in a number of franchises likePathfinderandWarhammer: 40,000. What do you feel are some of the advantages of working withinThe Expanse’s universe?
A:The Expanseis a great fit for us because it allows you to tell a major, deep story—with a lot of emotions, with believable characters, and with a lot of agency for you as a player. You’re navigating this political landscape with different factions, power plays, and intrigue, and that allows for a lot of meaningful choices—and it also lets you see the consequences of those choices.
That was one of the reasons we really likedThe Expanseas a universe to tell our next story, because it aligns with what we think is a great part of our games—and our approach to storytelling.
Q: A third-person shooter is somewhat outside of Owlcat’s usual forte. What did you find most challenging about working in this genre? Is there something about third-person shooters that was particularly unusual for you?
A:It’s not really unusual, but working on this project requires a lot more attention to many, many details. Like how we’re focusing on weapon feedback—how it feels right, how it works well—and all of that feeling is conveyed through very, very subtle changes: in the way the weapon behaves, in how it’s animated, in how the opponent is hit, and how you see, feel, and hear those hits or misses.
We spent quite a lot of time during the prototyping phase—and then during development—iterating on those small, subtle details that make the guns feel right in your hands, or that make the abilities feel valuable, visceral, and fitting within the universe.
Another thing is ourapproach to cinematics. This time around, we’re aiming for a far more cinematic experience, and a lot of what we want to show is much more complex. That also requires a lot of attention to small details. We had to reimagine our entire cutscene pipeline and how we present things to the player. It was a huge undertaking, and I really hope our players will enjoy what we’ve managed to create as a result of that effort.
Q: What do you hope players take away from their experience withOsiris Reborn? Is there something you hope players might think about when they step away from the game?
A:I can’t answer this right now, because what you’re talking about is—well, it’s a game meaning. It’s part of what we’re trying to tell, and it’s a huge part of our story and how it unfolds. And if I start talking about it, there will be huge spoilers that I just can’t give you right now.
But when we’re developing our games—ineverygame—we’re always trying to find what we call “meanings.” Sometimes it’s something more philosophical, sometimes it’s more about relationships, but it’s always something we want to explore on a high level: what is the story about? What are the characters about?
And we never want it to be like a moral story with a clearly defined good side or bad side. We want to explore that meaning as a phenomenon—and how that thing interacts with your choices, howyou’rethinking about this particular idea.
That’s been a part of each and every one of our games. And it’s part ofThe Expanseas well. But I can’t tell you whatthisstory is about—at least, not yet.
Q: Could you give me the broad strokes of who our character is and why they’re in this situation?
A:Of course—first of all,when you’re creating a character, you’re actually creatingtwocharacters, because you’re playing alongside your sibling—your twin. So, if you’re creating a male character, there will be two male characters. If you’re creating a female character, same thing.
You can think of your sibling as your first companion. While you share looks, they’re still a different person—with their own choices in life, their own background. They are your flesh and blood, but they have a mind of their own.
Initially, you’re both mercenaries. Oh—and I forgot to mention: when you’re creating those characters, you’re also picking an origin—whether they’re from Mars, the Belt, or Earth. And that affects a lot, especially in the early part of the game. It changes how people react to you.
You’re arriving on Ceres after the whole Canterbury incident, and if you’re from Mars, people will be immediately quite hostile toward you. But if you’re from the Belt, you’ll feel far more at home. There are also specific choices and parts of the game that will appear only if you have a particular origin.
As you play through the game, your choices start to define you more than your background. For example, I was playing as a Martian character, but I was supporting the Belt and the Belter cause—and slowly, Belt characters started interacting with me more positively because of that. Or vice versa—you could be playing a Belt character who supports Mars, and you’ll see reactions shift accordingly.
As I said, you and your sibling are mercenaries. I wouldn’t say you “encounter yourself” on Eros, but I can’t give exact details on why you’re on Eros during the outbreak. The Protogen experiments are happening, so you’re experiencing everything going on there—the horror of the situation, and also the sense of facing something unknown, something you don’t even understand.
As we know from the books and show—where there’s protomolecule, Protogen isn’t far behind. So yes, youwillbe encountering them. We can confirm they are one of the antagonists. But you’ll also be meeting one of the dreaded Project Caliban subjects—and trying to survive that encounter.
Then your adventure really begins—when you’re trying to get away from all this horror and mess.
Q: I appreciate how it seems that in the beginning of your game, your origin is very important, but later on, it becomes more about your choices. I think that’s a huge part ofThe Expanse.
A:I think that’s true as well—because inThe Expanse, your choices and your actions define you, and define how people react toward you. We want you to experience the same. It’s veryExpanse, and we want you to feel that.
How you go from an initial reaction that’s based on your origin—which we could even say is a little bit of a racist thing, because it’s based on preconceptions, like “Martians are like this,” “Belters are like that”—and how that evolves into something more personal, based on your actual actions and choices.
Q: How does that factor into the game? Is it sometimes harder to be a Belter or an Earther throughout the game? After all, Earthers are not well-liked at many of these planets and stations.
A:Throughout the events of the first two books, all the factions are kind of at each other’s throats—throwing knives and pointy things at one another. So it’s not like any one faction, place, or set of choices is
inherently more difficult. They’re just… different.
There are places where you’ll be welcome, and places where you won’t. There are connections that will help you, and others you’ll need to establish for yourself—because they’re harder to come by, depending on your origin.
But still, eventually, you’ll encounterallof the factions in some way, and interact with them in some form. And then it’s your choice—whether you want to align with one of the factions, or maybe forge your own path and try to stay out of politics.
There will be choices for that as well. But, as you understand, inThe Expanse, you can’t really escape politics. Politics will catch up to you.
So it’s not like you’re able to completely walk away and say, “Okay, I’m out of this.”
No. That mess will come back to haunt you.
Romancing Companions in The Expanse: Osiris Reborn
Q: I have to ask—how deeply can players become involved with their companions? Are they romanceable?
A:Companions come with their own set of beliefs—sometimes secrets, sometimes their own problems. And it’s up to you to decide whether you want to understand your companion better, or maybe help them out—or not.
There will be romance options in the game as well, but we’re not going into details about which ones or how.
Q: Is there anything you were hoping I’d ask that we didn’t get to?
A:I think we covered a lot. I would love to add that players will have their own ship throughout the adventure—because the ship is also an important part of the experience. You’ll get to travel the solar system, and for that ship, we have some customization—just a little bit—but also a lot of interactions with your companions.
And of course, the ship is authenticallyExpanse, with correctly placed compartments—more physically realistic than what you usually see in sci-fi.
Apart from that… yeah, I think we’ve covered a lot of stuff.
Q: Any final thoughts you’d like to share with fans?
A:We really hope to share more soon. Eventually, we’ll be showing the game, and we truly hope that players will enjoy this immersion intoThe Expanseuniverse—having their own time, their own adventure throughThe Expanse.
That’s what we really aim for: to provide you with your own authenticExpanseexperience.
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The Expanse: Osiris Rebornis in development for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
