The Outer Worlds 2 studio Obsidian accused of “violating state wage and hour laws” for profit in California lawsuit

Obsidian Entertainment, developers of The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed, have been sued in California for allegedly engaging “in a systematic pattern of wage and hour violations”. The case was initially filed in the Superior Court of Orange County by plaintiff Victoria Turner in the latter half of 2025, with Turner accusing Obsidian of – among other things – failure to pay minimum and overtime wage or provide lunch and rest breaks. Obsidian filed a response in March denying “each and every allegation” in Turner’s compaint and asking to have the case thrown out.

As reported by GamesRadar, a Reddit user going by the handle Macken_zee claims to have stumbled across the case, which doesn’t appear to have been widely reported until now, while browsing Superior Court of Orange County’s records. You’ve got to pay to access case documents on the court’s site, but there is at least a freely available rundown of the case’s proceedings thus far.

It cites Turner as having initially filed her complaint on September 10th, 2025, followed up by an amended complaint on January 12th this year. Obsidian responded in March; the most recent activity in the case was a payment of $1,435 the day after for an “answer or other 1st paper” and “complex case fee”. It’s not clear to my eye from the listing which side made that payment. A Victoria Turner is listed in The Outer Worlds 2’s credits as a QA lead.

The casual legal doc browsers of Reddit have pulled Turner’s amended complaint and Obsidian’s response, uploading them to the Internet Archive. “Through this action, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants engaged in a systematic pattern of wage and hour violations under the California Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission (“IWC”) Wage Orders, all of which contribute to Defendants’ deliberate unfair competition,” the former reads. Turner than accused Obsidian of the following:

• Failing to pay all wages (including minimum wages and overtime wages);
• Failing to provide lawful meal periods or compensation in lieu thereof;
• Failing to authorize or permit lawful rest breaks or provide compensation in lieu thereof;
• Failing to reimburse necessary business-related costs;
• Failing to provide accurate itemized wage statements;
• Failing to pay wages timely during employment; and
• Failing to pay all wages due upon separation of employment.

Obsidian denied “generally and specifically, each and every allegation” made by Turner in their March response, before rattling off 38 defenses and asking that the complaint be “dismissed in its entirety with prejudice”.

I’ve reached out to Obsidian for comment.

With the March payment being the last thing listed on the court’s record, the current status of the proceedings isn’t totally clear from it. There aren’t any hearing dates listed, nor any obvious indication that the complaint has been dismissed. Obsidian may have bigger fish to fry right now: their parent company, Microsoft, have announced plans to “reset” their gaming business, with a number of studio closures potentially to follow.