As fans of The Expanse know, the setting is grounded in science. The Expanse authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck have been praised for creating a universe that at least makes an effort to make sense in the context of our understanding of physics, and the TV show based upon it does the same.
Part of this is how The Expanse handles space travel. In the setting, a drug cocktail known as “The Juice” is used to help people cope with the stress of high G maneuvers required for space travel. The Juice is injected into occupants sitting on Crash Couches. But beyond that, space travel takes a realistic amount of time in The Expanse, typically days to months depending on your start and end point, acceleration and fuel efficiency.
Owlcat’s video game, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, can’t take quite as long with its version of space travel. This is an action RPG in the vein of Mass Effect, a game restricted by the grounded science of the show, but not beholden to it. It is not a space sim, rather a space adventure. And so, as the developers said during a Q&A session with media ahead of the game’s reveal at today’s Xbox Partner Preview showcase, a workaround was needed.
“The Expanse setting is very grounded and it’s very scientifically accurate. So that places a lot of restrictions on the developers in terms of creating new stuff,” game design director Leonid Rastorguev explained. “For example, designing new gadgets, because we need to check every kind of idea against the modern depiction of physics, and sometimes even with scientific guys that consult us on the matter.
“But talking about the passing of time on the ship, it is true that every journey in The Expanse universe takes days, even weeks, sometimes maybe months. We won’t be doing a time management mechanic in the game. I think it is excessive. But we will be showing it in terms of atmosphere and the ship. There will be some short cutscenes showing the life on the ship, how people communicate, eat their dinners, work out, and so on and so on, just to give you the immersion, the feeling of passing time on the ship.
“And there will be some other things that will actually explain to the player how the long journeys through space work in The Expanse.”
Rastorguev’s comments here echo those creative director Alexander Mishulin gave to IGN in an interview from last year, where he detailed those cutscenes.
“We actually thought about adding that to the game and even designed some of those,” Mishulin said of The Expanse’s space travel. “But we decided that we will show those things, we will tell you about those things, but we will not let you play them or manage them because it leads to additional tediousness and draws your attention away from the story and characters. And we want our focus to be very much on the story and the characters.
“So you will be seeing them, seeing all those elements in cutscenes. You will be seeing the moments when the Juice is coming in and the chairs go into the flat positions. You will be seeing ships that either accelerate or decelerate. You will be seeing all the somersault maneuvers and everything. But you will not be driving the ship by yourself. Of course all the trajectories for space travel will be realistic, not like going straight but taking into account gravity and gravity wells and going around the planets and everything.
“We are in The Expanse so we’re very much grounded and bound by realism, but we don’t want realism to take a lot of fun from you. Just sometimes a little bit of fun, but not a lot of fun! But you can expect some of the flesh physics to be in play. Just an example, of course when you’re having a shootout in a zero-g environment, the blood will perform in the correct way, not just splattering on the ground. There are a lot of such small details everywhere.”
At the Xbox Partner Preview showcase, Owlcat said The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will get a closed beta on April 22, and Microsoft confirmed it had picked up the game as a day one launch for Game Pass. The beta will run until the game’s launch in spring 2027.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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