Outriders Lore – What Happened to Earth?

Introduction

If you clicked on this article then Outriders is something that interests you. That would make a lot of sense, as on the 25th of February Outriders released a free demo that is honestly better than it needs to be. I’m talking cross play, 6 character slots and no time limit for starters. I plan on playing this game a lot, and I have a feeling more than fifty other people are going do the same. Although a large amount of people are going to be playing this demo to see if it will become the next Anthem, there will also be people who are genuinely interested about the game’s world and history, and they’re going to want some context.

Now I don’t know about you, but when I see an insane world with monsters that just don’t look right, the context I start looking for is where am I, and why am I here, because this is not Earth. If these are questions that you are asking then I am pleased to inform you that I have some answers. In today’s article, we’re going to talk about Earth, what happened to it, and what this new world is.

The Fall of Earth

In the world of Outriders, when talking about Earth we have a specific timeline that we need to follow. The timeline begins in 2016, but the only information I’ve been able to find is from 2021 onwards. So with this starting point I can’t say that the world is all fine and normal. But does that really matter? I mean look at 2021 does the world seem normal to you? In 2021 several corporations in the private sector destabilize the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to control the insane mineral wealth that the nation has. I can actually see this happening, if something like this hasn’t happened already.

By 2023 tensions continue to rise around the region as the interest in the Congo’s wealth only grows. South Africa invents a device named the Tectonic Resonator. This thing is basically an earthquake maker. Its original purpose is to bring minerals deep underground closer to the surface, and for a time it’s used to increase the efficiency of the mining in the Congo. However, it doesn’t take long for the nations of the world to recognize the destructive potential of the resonators, and several global powers weaponize the Resonators. If you have an earthquake maker, you’re going to use it, and South Africa cripples much of Angola. Understandably, America wants an excuse to use its Resonator as well, and so uses it on South Africa. And then after that the world turns into one big dodge ball game where the balls are earthquakes. This period of the Resonators being created and eventually used in the global conflict lasted between 2023 and 2032. 

This global war becomes known as the African War, and all the countries involved continue to earthquake each other until the Resonators are eventually destroyed. More might have been in production, but all of a sudden, America gets wrecked. You see it’s one thing to consistently wage war, but manipulating and damaging the stability of something as dangerous as the tectonic plates has serious consequences, and America would be the first, and not the last to feel those consequences.

After years of sustaining Resonator attacks, the Yellowstone super volcano erupts. Thirteen million people are killed, with a further eleven million requiring evacuation. This obviously takes the U.S out of the war. At this stage did the world stop and wonder, that if something like this happened to someone else, it could happen to them? Did they think about peace? It didn’t really matter since a year later the Italian super volcano Campi Flegrei wakes up, killing over half a million people and nuking the general region. Three months after that Africa basically gets split apart by rifts, with more deaths than that of any previously recorded natural disaster. The war in Africa is over, but the earthquakes are still happening. After much scientific research it is discovered that using the Resonators permanently messed up Earth’s convection currents, and that in 100 years, no life will be able to survive on the planet.

So that is what happened to Earth. Corporate greed created ingenuity, ingenuity created power, and power created war. I believe it is safe to say by the time of the Outriders game, Earth is screwed, but at the same time since Outriders exists, then we know that the evacuation plan was a success. Until it wasn’t. 

Enoch, and The Anomaly

Context! First question, where am I? I, and you if you join me, will in time be standing on the planet named Enoch. After Humanity landed on Enoch, a mysterious signal would be received by the colonists, and like moths to a flame the explorers searched for the source of the signal. I don’t know why this signal mattered so much to them, I don’t know how far they got from their ship, and I don’t know how long they searched, but instead of finding whatever was sending that signal, Humanity instead found a force that would be known as The Anomaly. I need to be clear with this next bit. The game isn’t out yet, so I don’t know the full details, but this is what I understand to the best of my ability.

When Humanity found The Anomaly it first of all acted as an EMP. So all the modern tech was instantly made useless. The search for the signal turned into a chase back to the colony ship, with not everyone making it inside before they were caught in the anomaly. Those who made it inside the ship had no choice but to enter cryosleep. Meanwhile The Anomaly raged outside in the form of some kind of storm. It augmented reality, mutating the wildlife and creating a new breed of Humans. The Altered.

To quote the Technomancer from one of the trailers, “The Anomaly alters us each in our own ways, yet we are drawn down the same road, into the dark heart of creation.” There’s a lot of really interesting stuff that I’ve found when it comes to Outrider’s lore, but for now this will have to do. I hope you enjoyed this article, and I hope you stick with me in the days to come, as I plan on covering Outrider’s lore extensively. 

Credits

ProgramFreedom! Scholarship
AuthorBen Duffield
YouTuberVenextron
PublisherMGN TV
GameOutriders

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