The Outer Worlds 2 price drop ensures $80 games aren’t the new normal yet

The Outer Worlds 2 will no longer cost $80. Several months ahead of the game’s release, Grounded 2 and The Outer Worlds developer Obsidian Entertainment took to their official social media accounts to confirm that The Outer Worlds 2 will now cost $70 at launch.

That $70 price point is more in line with most current-gen AAA video games. The Outer Worlds 2 was expected to be part of the first wave of games trying to set $80 as the new standard for a big-budget game.

Why The Outer Worlds 2 dropped in price before launch

Gamers don’t like $80 (even if Mario Kart World did well)

Developer Obsidian Entertainment decided to frame their messaging around the price drop in a funny way that was fitting for this satirical sci-fi RPG franchise:

Dear Galactic Citizens!

We have received your SOS via skip drone about the pricing. As an organization devoted to making sure that corporations do not go unfettered, we at the Earth Directorate have worked with [REDACTED] to revise the price of The Outer Worlds 2. While this will not bring peace to the galaxy, or even your local colony, we assure you all that we are here to fight for all colonies in every way that we can.

From the Office of the Director of the Earth Directorate

While that message is very tongue-in-cheek, this is actually a response to some more real, palpable backlash to $80 games. Nintendo was the first to price a basic version of a game that high, as Mario Kart World cost $80. Shortly thereafter, Microsoft announced that it would start pricing some games at $80 later in 2025. During the game’s dedicated Direct in June, we learned that The Outer Worlds 2 was the first Xbox-published title that Microsoft planned to release for $80.

Considering that this is a mid-sized RPG sequel to a budget-priced RPG, Xbox fans did not take the news very well. While June sales data show that Mario Kart World has sold well, the sentiment is clearly against games increasing in price to $80. On both Bluesky and X, fans of Obsidian are rejoicing at the price drop, indicating a clear resistance to pricing new video games at $80.

This pricing change means that Xbox Game Studios’ two biggest game releases of fall 2025 — The Outer Worlds 2 and Ninja Gaiden 4 — won’t be raising the price point for Microsoft’s games. That said, we do not yet know the retail price of titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Fable, or Gears of War: E-Day, so it’s possible that those do end up costing $80.

Hopefully, Microsoft will see how positively players are responding to this news and decide not to raise prices on their games, as it previously suggested it would.