After 2.5 Years in Beta, Is The Expanse Osiris Reborn Worth It?

Owlcat Games has released new Founder’s Beta stats for The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, confirming that more than 21,000 players have entered Pinkwater Station 4 since the test began on April 22. The studio also says the beta will remain available until the game launches in Spring 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.

What stands out most in these numbers is not raw firepower, but player willingness to stay. More than 2.1 ten-thousand players have joined the test, with total playtime adding up to the equivalent of two and a half years, while spacewalks alone account for 125 days. That suggests people are not just dropping in briefly and leaving. They are spending real time moving through this sci-fi sandbox, circling back, exploring, and treating its spaces as places worth inhabiting rather than a straight shot through a linear campaign.

The rest of Owlcat’s data reinforces that point. During the beta, players fired more than 60 million bullets, landed about 2.8 million headshots, and left over 380,000 bodies floating in space, whether from fallen enemies or dead players. That paints a clear picture of the game’s tone: combat-heavy, messy, and full of risk. More importantly, community feedback has broadly praised the overall atmosphere, the feel of its third-person shooting, the space combat experience, and the art style. Open-space battle sequences, in particular, were singled out for special praise.

That matters because open-world or open-zone games rarely fail because they are small. They fail when the map looks big but feels empty, repetitive, and directionless once you start moving through it. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is at least showing an encouraging early sign: players seem willing to spend time in zero-gravity sections, exterior walks, and station environments, which suggests its spatial design and encounter structure have some pull. Another revealing stat is class preference: the Officer specialization is the most popular by far, chosen by more than 60% of players. That also hints at a preference for a stable, versatile playstyle that gives players easier control over the pace of fights.

The problems, however, are also clear. Criticism has focused heavily on the voice performances for the protagonist and his brother, and that is not a minor issue in a narrative-driven sci-fi game. When players are exploring stations, fighting through corridors, and stepping outside into space, immersion matters. If key characters sound wrong, the entire experience can lose momentum fast. To Owlcat’s credit, the studio has already confirmed that it is looking for new voice actors for both roles, while also continuing work on animation, combat systems, overall flow, and technical stability.

If you already like The Expanse as a setting and prefer space games that let you find your own routes, battlefields, and encounters, then buying the Miller Pack or Collector’s Edition through official channels for Founder’s Beta access is a reasonable option. The caveat is obvious: this is still a work-in-progress build, and voice acting, animation, and technical stability are all still being improved. If you care more about a polished, definitive version, waiting for later test updates is probably the better call. Even so, these beta numbers suggest the game is no longer just a promising concept. It is starting to show the shape of a world actually worth exploring.