A hot potato: The economy is shaky, AI is taking jobs, and people are tightening their belts, which means there's never been a better time for Microsoft to reveal its first $80 game. The Redmond firm has confirmed that The Outer Worlds 2 will be priced at $79.99 in the US, making it the first Xbox Game Studios title to adopt this unwelcome price point.
This doesn't come as a shock, of course. A few weeks ago, Microsoft announced a number of price hikes across its Xbox hardware and software lineup, which it blamed on market pressures and rising development costs.
In addition to more expensive Xbox consoles, Microsoft said it plans to standardize pricing for some of its upcoming first-party game releases at $79.99.
The first of these titles will be The Outer Worlds 2. It launches on October 29, 2025, falling into the holiday season period that Microsoft said would be when the price increases arrive. In addition to the $79.99/£69.99 standard version, there will also be a special edition that costs $100.
Microsoft is unlikely to be overly worried about the blowback over the price. As an Xbox Game Studios title, it will launch straight into the PC/Xbox Game Pass service on day one. As is the case whenever a AAA title lands on the service, expect to see plenty of people take out subscriptions to play the game instead of handing over the retail amount.
The first Outer Worlds was one of those games that received mostly good to excellent reviews but didn't set the world on fire. Unsurprisingly, some users are review bombing the original game on Steam in response to its sequel's $80 price tag.
Obsidian, developer of both games, is also launching Grounded 2 this year. At $29.99, it's more than 60% cheaper than The Outer Worlds 2.
It's not just Microsoft pushing up the standard cost of AAA games. Nintendo got there first when it announced that every first-party Switch 2 game would cost $70 or $80 – Mario Kart World falls into the latter category.
A) Not my call. B) If you're a real fan, you'll find a way to make it happen. My local game store had Starflight for Sega Genesis for $80 in 1991 when I was just out of high school working minimum wage at an ice cream parlor in Pismo Beach and I found a way to make it happen.
– Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) May 14, 2025
There's been plenty of anger over increasing game prices. It's led to some within the industry trying to justify them, unsuccessfully. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, for example, said "real fans" would find a way to get hold of Borderland 4 if it costs $80.
There have also been plenty of rumors about GTA VI costing more than $80. One analyst wrote that developers and publishers "hope" that the game could cost as much as $100 when it arrives, as such a move could embolden other companies to start charging even more for their games.
Many companies cite large development teams and rising production costs as justification for price hikes. However, it's worth noting that three of the best-selling titles of 2025 so far – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Split Fiction, and Blue Prince – are all budget releases.
