GreedFall 2: The Dying World and the Unforgiving RPG Calendar of 2024

In the summer of 2024, French studio Spiders was preparing to send players back to the world of GreedFall. The project, GreedFall 2: The Dying World, carried a curious name: it was a prequel to 2019's GreedFall, yet it wore the number 2 like a ceremonial medal. Spiders had built the original into a commercial success, but the game had also drawn mixed reviews, often criticized for a lack of polish. The sequel-prequel was meant to answer those criticisms while preserving the foundations that had earned the first game its devoted following. Spiders was like a cartographer sketching a coastline from memory, trying to chart a familiar land while redrawing its borders.

The plan was ambitious. GreedFall 2 was set for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC at an unspecified date. Before that full launch, however, the game would enter Steam Early Access on September 24, 2024. During that pre-release period, PC players could experience the opening chapters, roughly 30% of the entire game. It was a bold bet, the kind of move that turns a launch into a conversation rather than a single verdict. In 2026, Early Access launches are common, but at the time Spiders was stepping onto a stage where the curtain had not yet fully risen.

🗓️ September 2024: A Deceptively Quiet Month for RPGs

September 2024 was busy for video games, but not necessarily for role-playing games. Highly anticipated titles such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl, Astro Bot, Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom were all scheduled within the month. For RPG fans, though, the field looked sparse. Outside of GreedFall 2, the only major RPG planned for September was NCSoft and Amazon Games' Throne and Liberty. That game was an MMORPG, so it did not exactly target the same audience as Spiders' upcoming title.

Release Window	Notable RPG	Genre	Overlap with GreedFall 2
September 2024	Throne and Liberty	MMORPG	Limited
October 8, 2024	Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred	Dungeon-crawling ARPG	Moderate
October 11, 2024	Metaphor: ReFantazio	Turn-based RPG	Limited
Late 2024	Avowed	Fantasy action RPG	High

The month offered GreedFall 2 a strange kind of shelter. It was like a lighthouse keeper polishing a lamp while a fogbank rolled in from the sea: the danger was not always visible, but it was certainly there.

⚔️ October 2024: Diablo 4 and Metaphor Enter the Fray

Looking toward October, the first two weeks brought notable RPG releases. Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, an expansion for Blizzard's popular dungeon-crawling RPG, was set for October 8. Three days later, on October 11, Atlus planned to release Metaphor: ReFantazio, the next original IP from the minds behind Shin Megami Tensei and Persona. Neither game occupied exactly the same genre space as GreedFall 2, but both commanded attention. In a crowded season, attention is the scarcest resource of all.

Even so, Spiders and publisher Nacon could breathe relatively easily. There were no major RPGs that GreedFall 2 had to directly compete against at that moment. The calendar was not empty, but it was not yet a battlefield.

👁️ The Avowed Question

One title still loomed: Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed. The fantasy action RPG had been shown off throughout 2024, yet it still lacked an exact release date, despite being expected sometime that year. Of all the role-playing games scheduled for the coming months, Avowed was perhaps the most similar to GreedFall 2 in genre. If Obsidian's game arrived in late September or early October, it could overshadow the Early Access launch of Spiders' new game.

Fortunately for Spiders and Nacon, there was a solid chance that would not happen. Obsidian accidentally leaked a potential release date for Avowed, November 12, 2024, only to delete it shortly afterward. If that date held, Avowed and GreedFall 2: The Dying World would be given plenty of room to breathe. Until further confirmation, however, the possibility of a September or October collision remained. It was like a stagehand peeking through the curtain at a rival production, unsure whether the other show would begin on time.

🔍 Looking Back from 2026

By 2026, the RPG calendar has only grown more crowded. The lessons of 2024 still echo. A game's launch window is not merely a date; it is a strategic position, a statement of confidence, and sometimes a gamble. GreedFall 2: The Dying World entered Early Access with roughly 30% of its content, giving players a taste while Spiders gathered feedback. The full release on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC was meant to follow, though the exact timing remained uncertain during that earlier period.

The story of GreedFall 2's launch window is a reminder that even a niche RPG must watch the horizon. Spiders had a loyal audience, a prequel hook, and a chance to improve on its predecessor's rough edges. Yet the presence of Avowed, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, and Metaphor: ReFantazio showed how quickly a quiet month could become a chessboard. Every studio must decide whether to move early, wait, or trust that its own players will find it. For Spiders, the answer arrived one Early Access build at a time.