Outriders could follow in Diablo's footsteps

Outriders
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Outriders could be more like Diablo 2 in the future, featuring "significant expansions with self-contained stories".

That's according to Outriders developer, People Can Fly, who spoke to Forbes about the future of the sci-fi co-op shooter in a recent interview and explained that, while Outriders isn't a "live-service game", there are plans for future content.

"We never said that we would abandon the game," Creative Director Bartek Kmita told the publication. "This isn’t a games-as-a-service, but if people like it, we will definitely be doing more things in the Outriders universe. We have so many more stories to tell, and a lot of ideas we want to explore that we couldn’t fit in the original game, so we’re happy to create more content in the future. Anything we would make would be in the form of significant expansions with self-contained stories."

But while comparisons have been drawn between Outriders and looter shooters such as Destiny, the game is largely inspired by the Diablo series, according to People Can Fly. This inspiration is something that we may see shape Outriders' future content and could set it apart from contemporaries like Destiny 2, with expansions adding new stories and areas rather than the title being regularly updated.

"For inspiration, everything started with Diablo, which we still regard as best in class," Kmita said. "We wanted to use Diablo as reference, not really other games from our genre."

A rough start

Outriders

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Outriders officially released on console and PC on April 1, but its launch weekend was plagued with server issues which affected players being able to jump into the online-only shooter. 

At the time of writing, Outriders servers are stable and People Can Fly has stated that it will "share more specific details" on how the server issues occurred and what the developer is doing to address them in "the near future".

Due to the server issues, TechRadar has been delayed in publishing its Outriders review, but keep an eye out for our full impressions later this week. 

Vic Hood
Associate Editor, TechRadar Gaming

Vic is TechRadar Gaming's Associate Editor. An award-winning games journalist, Vic brings experience from IGN, Eurogamer and more to the TechRadar table. You may have even heard her on the radio or speaking on a panel. Not only is Vic passionate about games, but she's also an avid mental health advocate who has appeared on both panels and podcasts to discuss mental health awareness. Make sure to follow her on Twitter for more.