Obsidian Entertainment’s AI-powered support tool recently sent Outer Worlds 2 players to the wrong company, the note-taking app Obsidian.
Obsidian Entertainment, the studio behind recently released The Outer Worlds 2, is getting attention this week for something that has nothing to do with its latest RPG, and everything to do with its AI-powered customer support.
The situation came to light after Steph Ango, the CEO of Obsidian.md (the note-taking software), shared a screenshot on X (formerly Twitter) showing a support email sent by Obsidian Entertainment. The message, which was clearly meant for a player of The Outer Worlds 2, accidentally instructed them to contact Obsidian.md for help, the wrong Obsidian entirely
“When you email issues to Obsidian Entertainment (the video game company), their AI support hallucinates and tells you to email Obsidian (the note-taking company) instead,” Ango wrote. “The perils of trusting an LLM with your customer support.”
Wait… Wrong Obsidian?
The screenshot shows Obsidian Entertainment’s support email thanking the user for enjoying The Outer Worlds 2 and offering guidance on disabling two-factor authentication. But then, at the end, the automated message sends the person to a completely unrelated address, [email protected], which belongs to the note-taking company.
Here’s what the email said:
“Since your issue is with the Obsidian account system (for the issue tracker) and involves account security, this is something our specialized account security team needs to handle directly. They’re the only ones who can verify your ownership and safely disable the authenticator app link without a current code.
“Please email their dedicated support channel directly right now at [email protected]. In your email, explain exactly what you told me: you lost access to your authenticator app, you used a backup code to log in, but you can’t disable 2FA because it still asks for an authenticator code. Mention that you can provide any proof of account ownership they need.”
The two Obsidians share a name but nothing else. One builds RPGs like Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2, while the other makes productivity software loved by writers and developers. Unfortunately, it seems the game studio’s AI assistant mixed them up, a classic case of what AI researchers call a “hallucination.”
It’s been a busy few days for Obsidian Entertainment following the release of The Outer Worlds 2, which launched to generally positive reviews. Obsidian Entertainment hasn’t yet responded publicly to the mix-up, but Ango’s post quickly gained traction online.
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