Revision 3

Companions

In The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, companions are the core of the gameplay experience. Owlcat Games has described them as being "front and center" to the entire game. The player commands a crew of seven highly skilled specialists aboard the Gemini, each with a distinct background, personality, personal questline, unique ability set, and an associated Exploit category. During missions, the player selects two companions to bring into the field. The remaining crew members are not idle; they lead secondary squads on parallel objectives, provide strategic analysis from the Gemini, hack into systems remotely, contact the player via radio with intelligence updates, or temporarily appear at designated locations to assist with story events and provide fire support.

Known Companions

The full companion roster was confirmed at the Xbox Partner Preview on March 26, 2026. All seven companions are available over the course of the game, recruited from various locations across the solar system. Each companion has a distinct personality, personal questline, unique ability set, and an associated Exploit category. Owlcat Games has hinted that additional crew members may be revealed later, noting that the seven shown are "not the whole story, nor your whole crew."

Companion Profiles

J (Executive Officer)

J is the player character's identical twin and closest ally. Because J's appearance and gender are based on the player's custom character, J acts as a narrative mirror throughout the story. Despite sharing the player's face, J has a personality entirely their own: impulsive, direct, and fiercely loyal. J joined Pinkwater Security alongside the player and was present during the massacre at Eros Station. In combat, J reads the battlefield instinctively and identifies structural weaknesses, making them a natural fit for the Precision Exploit category.

Teo (Doctor / Combat Medic)

Teo is a loud and boisterous combat medic who lost his medical license back on Earth. He jokes that he was "kicked out before he ever got to take the oath." Despite his professional disgrace, Teo is an aggressively effective field medic. He wears tough armor and uses experimental stimulants to enhance both his own combat performance and the survivability of his squadmates. His Malfunction Exploit category is a curious wrinkle; scrambling electrical systems is a stretch from experimental stimulants, but it reflects Teo's unconventional approach to problem-solving. His medical background makes him a critical asset for keeping the squad alive through extended firefights.

Regina (Liaison Officer / Sniper)

Regina serves as the team's sniper, scout, and expert infiltrator. Voiced by Nola Klop, she has a guarded personality that makes it tricky to piece together her true past and agenda. Regina sees the player as a valuable ally on her own mysterious quest, and her background as a liaison officer gives her connections across factional lines that influence dialogue and quest options. Her Precision Exploit category focuses on targeting specific enemy weak points and high-value targets from range. Press coverage has compared her to Miranda from Mass Effect 2 due to her enigmatic nature and layered motivations.

Aleesha (Electronic Warfare Specialist)

Aleesha abandoned corporate life to become a free agent, devoting herself to seeking out complicated problems and unsolvable enigmas to push her brain to its limits. Her snarky personality masks a principled rejection of mega-corporate power. In combat, Aleesha deploys drones and subverts enemy systems, hijacking hostile technology to turn it against its owners. Her Cyber-attack Exploit works similarly to Malfunction but instead of outright disabling electrical systems, it repurposes them against the enemy. Aleesha's expertise makes her particularly valuable in missions involving Protogen technology.

Polly (Shipgirl / Support)

Polly is a youthful, optimistic, and chatty Belter who yearns to prove herself and achieve something truly great. Born in space as a member of The Expanse's most systematically marginalized cultural group, Polly represents the Belt perspective and its political stakes within the crew. In combat, she is armored enough to take a hit and lays down mid-range covering fire with her submachine gun. Her Demolition Exploit provides explosive support to handle heavily fortified enemy positions. Polly's Belter heritage gives her a unique viewpoint on the faction conflicts that drive much of the game's narrative.

Michael (Gunner)

Michael is a fellow mercenary who initially works for a competing organization. A former UN military soldier who also served in private security, Michael grew disillusioned with institutional life and turned to mercenary work. Voiced by Will de Renzy-Martin, he is described as principled but troubled by the tragedies he has faced in the past. In combat, Michael charges the frontline carrying a shield and a shoulder-mounted autocannon, making him the crew's primary heavy weapons specialist. His Demolition Exploit destroys cover and terrain outright, forcing enemies into the open.

Zafar (Mechanic)

Zafar is an old friend who reunites with the player at Pinkwater 4 station. He is one of the first companions to join the crew. Voiced by Kerem Erdinc (who was featured in the original announcement trailer), Zafar is calm and collected, choosing his words carefully and proving to be surprisingly poetic when he does speak. In combat, Zafar deploys turrets and EMF devices that disable and disorient enemy equipment, applying methodical pressure on the battlefield. His Malfunction Exploit wrecks electrical systems, complementing his engineering expertise with machine degradation.

Combat Loadouts

Each companion has a distinct combat style defined by their weapons, armor, and special abilities. The table below summarizes each companion's known loadout based on information revealed at the March 2026 Xbox Partner Preview and the PC Gamer exclusive.

Field Deployment

During missions, the player selects two companions to bring into the field. The remaining crew members are not idle. They lead secondary squads, provide ship-based analysis, hack into systems remotely, or contact the player via radio with intelligence updates. In some missions, non-active companions temporarily appear at specific locations to provide support or participate in story events.

Choosing the right pair of companions for a mission is a tactical decision. Some missions favor a balanced squad with one ranged specialist and one close-range fighter, while others might benefit from two drone-focused companions who can lock down a large area. The player can swap their active companions between missions but cannot change the lineup mid-mission.

Each companion's Exploit category also factors into squad composition. Bringing two Precision companions offers different environmental interaction options than pairing a Demolition specialist with a Cyber-attack expert. The Exploit system encourages players to experiment with different companion combinations to discover new ways to clear encounters.

The Exploit System

Each companion is associated with one of four Exploit categories: Precision, Malfunction, Cyber-attack, or Demolition. The Exploit System is a unique combat mechanic where companions can eliminate entire enemy groups at once by interacting with environmental elements. When the player identifies an Exploit opportunity during combat, they direct a companion to trigger it, and the result depends on the companion's category and the environmental setup.

See the Exploit System article for full mechanical details.

Companion Permadeath

One of the most significant companion mechanics is permadeath. Companions can die permanently based on the player's decisions throughout the game. This is not limited to a single climactic choice at the end. Decisions made hours earlier, including how well the player has maintained their relationships and how they handle story-critical moments, determine who lives and who dies.

Game design director Leonid Rastorguev has explicitly cited Mass Effect 2's suicide mission as the inspiration. In that game, the survival of each squadmate depended on a web of choices made across the entire playthrough: loyalty missions, ship upgrades, and squad assignments during the final mission. Osiris Reborn applies a similar philosophy where long-term investment in companions through dialogue, side quests, and mission choices directly affects their survival odds.

The developers have stated: "The Expanse universe is cruel and some characters might die because of your choices." When a companion dies, they are gone for the rest of the playthrough. Their gear, abilities, and unique dialogue are lost, and the story adjusts to reflect their absence. This gives weight to every major decision and creates meaningful consequences that persist through the rest of the game.

Romance

Romance options are confirmed for Osiris Reborn. Not every companion is romanceable, and the developers have stated they will not specify which ones are before launch. The developers explained the setting's natural suitability for romance: "It's a small crew on a small ship. Everyone flies in very tight spaces for a very long time. So there is dynamics in the crew." Romance develops organically through dialogue choices, time spent together during ship downtime, and personal quest progression.

Romance ties into the companion permadeath system. Losing a romanced companion carries additional emotional and narrative weight, and the game's writing accounts for this. There is no mechanical "relationship meter" displayed on screen. Instead, companion reactions are organic: they respond to the player's choices, challenge decisions they disagree with, and remember past conversations.

Companion Progression

Companions level up alongside the player. As they gain experience, the player can invest points in each companion's skill tree to unlock new abilities and passive upgrades. Equipment can also be changed, with companions able to use different weapons, armor pieces, and tech devices. Companions are less versatile than the player character; they have narrower skill trees that specialize in their particular combat role.

The way a player builds their companions should complement their own character build. A player who focuses on gunplay might want to invest in companions with strong tech abilities. A commander build that buffs companions benefits from investing in each companion's damage output and durability.

Dynamic Crew Interactions

Companions are not passive tools. They argue with each other, challenge the player's choices, and have opinions about every major story development. Walking into the Gemini's common area after a contentious mission might reveal two companions in a heated disagreement. These dynamic reactions are not scripted cutscenes triggered at fixed points; they emerge from the combination of which companions are alive, what the player has done, and how the companions feel about each other.

During major plot events, companions offer opinions, hint toward decisions, and provide assistance. This can include crucial contacts who offer advice or military support depending on the companion's background and connections. Relationships evolve based on player investment, with opportunities to help companions through personal struggles or ignore them entirely.

Ship Interactions

Between missions, companions are available aboard the Gemini for conversations, side quests, and personal interactions. These moments are where much of the character development happens. Walking around the ship and checking in with each crew member after a major story event reveals new dialogue, personal reactions, and sometimes new quest hooks. The Gemini functions as a social hub in the same way the Normandy did in Mass Effect or the Ebon Hawk in Knights of the Old Republic. The quieter moments between missions are where the emotional stakes of the permadeath system are built.

Faction Reputation and Companions

Unlike Mass Effect's binary moral alignment system, choices in Osiris Reborn revolve around reputation with three major factions: Earth, Mars, and the Belt. The player can champion one faction, betray it, act as a double agent, or navigate political intrigue through risky deals and alliances. Companions react to these factional decisions based on their own backgrounds and loyalties. Polly's Belter heritage, Michael's UN military past, and Regina's cross-factional connections all color how each companion perceives the player's political maneuvering.

TV Show Characters

Some characters from The Expanse television series appear in Osiris Reborn, voiced by their original actors. Game design director Leonid Rastorguev confirmed that these actors provided both voice work and digital scanning for their likenesses. James Holden appears in at least one broadcast message, though without original voice work from Steven Strait. Cara Gee, who voiced Camina Drummer in The Expanse: A Telltale Series, has been noted as a likely returning actor. The specific characters and the extent of their roles have not been fully disclosed ahead of launch.

Closed Beta

Companions are featured in the Closed Beta, which launched on April 22, 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, with PC and PlayStation 5 access to follow. The beta includes a full mission from the main game, allowing players to experience companion dialogue, combat abilities, and the Exploit system firsthand. Access requires purchasing the Miller's Pack or Collector's Edition from the official website.