Inside Death Of The Outsider

Why DISHONORED 2’s developers refined and reworked its DLC story into an expandalone.

- Aaron Potter

God-killing might sound like an ambitious notion for a standalone expansion, but with Death of the Outsider, Arkane Studios promised players the opportunity to do just that. The expansion is also the latest example of a trend where developers experiment with an established series to create something that’s not quite DLC or sequel, but something in between. Refining certain ideas, systems and mechanics present in Dishonored 2 enabled Billie Lurk’s revenge tale to be its own beast.

“It’s true that we could have told that story through a two or three-part season of DLC,” says Dinga Bakaba, the game’s lead designer. “The push for a standalone was really a choice that benefited the overall quality of the game the most.” Though smaller, more focused and arguably more linear than Dishonored 2, the tale of the Death of the Outsider was the perfect opportunity to give players a satisfying sense of finality.

Almost everyone at the studio agreed that a separate release was the best route to take if the epilogue was to be done justice. The series’ long-standing director, Harvey Smith, had actually toyed with the idea since the first day of working on Dishonored 2. Though post-release DLC for the original 2012 game was well received, certain restrictions always come when developing additional content in the traditional manner. The plan for Death of the Outsider was to avoid those.

KILLING CHAOS