Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee is a platform and puzzle game developed by Oddworld Inhabitants and published by GT Interactive. It went on sale in North America and Europe on September 19, 1997, and a PC port by Digital Dialect followed on November 11, 1997. Lorne Lanning directed it under the working title Soul Storm, and its GameSpeak voice commands were partly inspired by the audio puzzles of Loom. The budget was $4 million, while GT Interactive spent $10 million on marketing. It was planned as the first part of a five-part series.
The Japanese release, Abe a GoGo, had Shūya Akimoto as general producer and changed more than the title: the box art, some voices including Abe's and even the Mudokons' number of fingers were altered, and some of those changes carried over to later versions worldwide.
The PC version came to Steam in 2008, and the PlayStation original was re-released on PS3 and later PS5. In 2014 the game was remade as Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Oddworld: Abe's OddyseeReached some shelves on September 18. | PlayStation | Sep 19, 1997 | GT Interactive | 1 |
| NA | Oddworld: Abe's OddyseePC port by Digital Dialect. | Windows | Nov 11, 1997 | GT Interactive | 1 |
| NA | Oddworld: Abe's OddyseePlayStation Network (PS one emulation). | PlayStation 3 | Oct 22, 2009 | — | 1 |
| EU | Oddworld: Abe's OddyseeEnglish Wikipedia gives the same date for North America and PAL regions. | PlayStation | Sep 19, 1997 | GT Interactive | 1 |
| JP | エイブ・ア・ゴーゴーJapanese Wikipedia gives December 11, 1997; English Wikipedia says October. | PlayStation | 1997 | Gamebank (SoftBank) | 2 |
| WW | Oddworld: Abe's OddyseeSteam release. | Windows | Aug 28, 2008 | Oddworld Inhabitants | 3 |
| EU | Oddworld: Abe's OddyseePlayStation Network (PS one emulation). | PlayStation 3 | Apr 15, 2010 | — | 1 |
| JP | エイブ・ア・ゴーゴーGame Archives. | PlayStation 3 | Nov 13, 2013 | — | 2 |
| WW | Oddworld: Abe's OddyseePS1 emulation on PS5, first in Asia, then other regions. | PlayStation 5 | 2022 | — | 1 |
Also known as: エイブ・ア・ゴーゴー JP2Abe a GoGo JP1Soul Storm WW1
Box art by region
NA Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee 
EU Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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CoverPS1 (JP)later releases
After the Kobe child murders, the Japanese box art showing a severed head was replaced with a popsicle image, and the altered packaging was kept for later releases.1
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CensorshipPS1 (JP)later releases
After a complaint from the Buraku Liberation League, Mudokons were given three fingers instead of four; the change was kept in later versions worldwide.1
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ContentPC
The PC version lacks the "Guardian Angel" FMV found in the PlayStation version.1
Translations
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Spanish Official
Oddworld InhabitantsWindowsReleased
The Steam version lists English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish (Spain).3
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Japanese Official
Gamebank (SoftBank)1997PlayStation · English versionReleased
The Japanese release, Abe a GoGo, came with some content restrictions and processed voices.2
Where to play legally today
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GOG Purchase
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Steam Purchase
How to run it today
The PC version is sold on Steam and GOG, but GOG's store page warns that its edition is not compatible with Windows 10 and newer (the listed minimum is Windows XP–8). The 2014 remake Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty is a separate game.
- Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee on GOG gog.com
Reception
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee has a Metacritic score of 85/100 on PlayStation; critics praised its originality, art and animation but criticized the difficulty and checkpoint saves. It sold over 1 million copies by January 1998 and 3.5 million by December 2012, and Europe unexpectedly outsold the US.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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