Revision 4

Locations

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn takes players across the solar system, from the asteroid belt to the moons of Jupiter to the surfaces of Earth's Moon and Mars. Each location is drawn from the setting established in The Expanse books and TV show, and the developers have focused on making each one feel distinct in atmosphere, population, gravity conditions, and available activities. Every major location features a social hub with bars, gear shops, vendor NPCs, companion downtime activities, and ambient characters providing world-building dialogue.

Creative Director Alexander Mishulin has described the studio's approach to world design: "Every place in The Expanse tells a story. When we recreate locations like Ganymede or Ceres, it's not just about making them look authentic; it's about capturing the struggles and hopes of the people who live there. That sense of survival and consequence is what we want players to feel as they move through the game."

The opening section on Eros is linear by design, establishing the stakes and the player's motivation. After escaping aboard the Gemini, the game opens up into a non-linear structure where the player chooses their next destination from the ship's navigation console. Confirmed visitable locations include Ceres Station, Ganymede, Mars, Luna, Io, and Pinkwater Station, along with assorted bunker complexes and mining outposts scattered throughout the asteroid belt.

Eros Station

Eros is where the player's story begins. A spinning asteroid station in the Belt, Eros has a reputation as a seedy, overcrowded hub where anything can be bought for the right price. The station's corridors are cramped, poorly maintained, and packed with Belters living in conditions ranging from uncomfortable to squalid. Fans of The Expanse will recognize Eros as the site of the protomolecule incident, one of the most significant events in the series' timeline.

The game begins during this incident, with the player's Pinkwater Security team caught in the chaos as the situation on Eros rapidly deteriorates. The opening sequence is linear by design, funneling the player through the collapse of the station as they fight to escape aboard the Gemini. A widespread massacre of thousands of innocent people unfolds around the player, and this event serves as the emotional catalyst that drives the rest of the narrative. After the escape, the game opens up into a non-linear structure where the player chooses their next destination.

Before the incident, Eros functions as an early social hub where players can interact with NPCs, visit bars and shops, and get a feel for Belt culture. The station's rotation provides simulated gravity, though it is noticeably lower than Earth standard, and the Coriolis effect is present in gameplay.

Ceres Station

Ceres is the largest station in the Belt and serves as the game's primary social hub. Carved out of the dwarf planet Ceres, the station is a vast, multi-layered city that houses millions of Belters. It is the de facto capital of the Belt and the political center of the OPA (Outer Planets Alliance). The Gamescom 2025 environments showcase described Ceres as having "dark corridors" and an "OPA extremist population," where tensions between Belter residents and inner-planet visitors simmer constantly.

As a hub, Ceres offers the widest range of social interactions, shops, side quests, and NPC encounters in the game. Bars, marketplaces, docking bays, and residential tunnels fill out the explorable areas. The station's gravity is generated by its spin, and players will notice differences in how movement feels compared to smaller stations. Belter Creole language is spoken openly on Ceres, and NPCs use the distinctive hand gestures of Belt culture.

Ceres is politically charged. The player's origin heavily influences how the inhabitants react. Earthers and Martians face hostility: prices may be higher, NPCs may refuse to share information, and certain quest givers only work with Belters. A Belter player character receives a warmer welcome and gains access to side content that other origins cannot reach.

Ganymede

Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, is known in The Expanse as the breadbasket of the outer planets. Its surface features the "gardens of Ganymede": vast domed agricultural complexes that use mirrors to direct sunlight onto crops. These gardens are a lifeline for the Belt, producing much of the food that sustains the outer-planet population. The Gamescom 2025 environments trailer highlighted Ganymede's "fragile ecosystems" and "lush gardens," making the domed agricultural zones one of the most visually striking environments in the game. Green plants, artificial sunlight, and open spaces contrast sharply with the metallic industrial aesthetic found elsewhere.

In the game, Ganymede is a location with a mix of above-ground dome environments and underground facilities. Beneath the surface, the station's infrastructure is more typical of Belt construction, with narrow corridors and utilitarian design. A UNN (United Nations Navy) military presence is established on the moon, adding political tension to an already precarious food-production colony.

Ganymede plays an important role in the game's story, connected to events surrounding Project Caliban, the Protogen program to weaponize the protomolecule. Players who have read Caliban's War will recognize the significance of what happens on and around this moon.

Mars

Mars is the homeworld of the Martian Congressional Republic (MCRN) and the second most powerful political entity in the solar system. The planet is in the middle of a centuries-long terraforming project, and Martian society is organized around that generational goal. Discipline, purpose, and military strength define the culture. The Gamescom 2025 environments showcase described Mars and Luna as "imperious political bastions," reflecting the planet's militaristic governance and its population's collective dedication to the terraforming dream.

Players who chose the Martian origin will feel a sense of homecoming when visiting Mars, while Earthers and Belters encounter varying degrees of suspicion. The MCRN maintains a heavy presence throughout the areas the player can visit. The contrast between Mars's ambitious vision of a green, habitable future and the current reality of a barren world is a recurring theme.

Luna and Lovell City

Earth's Moon (Luna) is home to Lovell City, which serves as the effective capital of the United Nations in The Expanse universe. Lovell City is a sprawling underground metropolis built into the lunar surface, with artificial skies projected onto the ceiling of its vast caverns to simulate daylight. Alongside Mars, Luna is described as one of the "imperious political bastions" in the solar system, though here the corridors of power represent Earth's diplomatic establishment rather than military authority.

Concept art for Luna was revealed in February 2026 alongside a developer tease about political intrigue and bureaucracy as gameplay elements. The implication is that Lovell City is not just a combat location but a place where the player navigates UN politics through dialogue, skill checks, and factional maneuvering. The city's architecture is more polished than Belt stations, with wide promenades, government buildings, and residential quarters reflecting Earth's wealth and political influence.

Io

Io, one of Jupiter's innermost moons, is a volcanically active world with a surface extremely hostile to human life. In The Expanse lore, Io hosts secret research facilities connected to the protomolecule conspiracy. The moon's remoteness and dangerous conditions make it an ideal hiding place for operations that powerful interests want to keep secret. In the game, Io is expected to serve as a late-game location tied to the main story's climax, with connections to both Project Caliban and Protogen's broader agenda.

The Gemini

The Gemini serves as the player's ship and mobile hub throughout the game. Commandeered by force during the escape from Eros, it is described as "the most advanced ship in the whole of the solar system." Travel between locations takes place aboard the Gemini, and the ship functions as a home base where crew relationships develop over time. Companions spend their downtime on the ship, and players can interact with crew members between missions to build trust, resolve conflicts, and unlock personal storylines.

Ship combat is described as "primarily cinematic" rather than a direct gameplay mechanic. When hostilities arise during transit, encounters play out through scripted sequences and player decisions rather than a separate ship combat system. The focus remains on ground-based combat and story choices.

Pinkwater Station (Pinkwater 4)

Pinkwater Station, also referred to as Pinkwater 4, serves as the player's home base outside of the Gemini. It is a spin station associated with Pinkwater Security, the private military company that employs the player character at the start of the game. According to the developers, it "wasn't featured in The Expanse show or books, but we wanted you to learn more about this company, and explore one of its bases." The station features a marketplace with vendors selling weapons, armor, gadgets, and consumables, as well as a station administrator who the player can interact with in meaningful ways.

Press previews described Pinkwater Station as packed with environmental detail, with materials and texture work giving the station a genuine, lived-in feel. NPCs gossip about the news, and the atmosphere conveys an operational military facility where people actually live and work. The Gamescom 2025 environments showcase highlighted the "industrial sprawl" of Pinkwater as a contrast to the agricultural gardens of Ganymede and the political architecture of Mars and Luna.

One of the game's early branching choices involves Pinkwater Station. The player can persuade the station administrator to arm the civilian inhabitants against a Protogen threat. This decision has consequences: armed civilians can help defend the station but some may die in the fighting, whereas leaving them unarmed means fewer casualties but less help and a stocked armory that goes unused. Pinkwater Station is also where the closed beta mission takes place, with players returning from Eros on the commandeered Gemini to confront a powerful enemy and earn the title of captain.

Asteroid Belt

Beyond the named stations, the asteroid belt contains bunker complexes, mining outposts, and hidden facilities that the player visits during various missions. These locations tend to be smaller and more combat-focused than the major social hubs, featuring tight corridors, industrial machinery, and frequent zero-gravity sections. The Gamescom 2025 trailer described these as "whole bunker complexes veiled in the vastness of the Asteroid Belt."

Gravity and Environmental Design

Each location in the game features distinct gravity conditions that affect movement and combat. Belt stations like Eros and Ceres generate simulated gravity through rotation, resulting in lower gravity than planetary surfaces and a noticeable Coriolis effect. Mars and Luna provide partial gravity on their surfaces. Zero-gravity sections appear throughout space stations, ship exteriors, and asteroid belt installations.

The developers implemented magnetic boots as the primary tool for navigating zero-gravity environments, allowing players to anchor to surfaces while preserving responsive movement during combat. This replaced earlier free-flight prototypes that caused motion sickness in testing. Owlcat collaborated with former NASA pilot and ISS commander Leroy Chiao to incorporate realistic details into the environmental design, from muffled sound effects in vacuum to the behavior of grenades equipped with small propulsive jets.

The developers have emphasized that the solar system looks different from every planet and every asteroid. Each location presents a unique view of the surrounding space, with different planets, moons, and stars visible depending on where the player currently is. As the developers put it: "The system looks different from every planet and from every asteroid. Some are falling apart. Others just hide it better." This attention to astronomical accuracy reinforces the grounded science fiction aesthetic that defines The Expanse setting.

Location Summary