Microsoft backs away from $80 video games, drops The Outer Worlds 2 worth to $70 ‘according to present market situations’

When requested the way it might justify an $80 price ticket for upcoming RPG The Outer Worlds 2, developer Obsidian had a sympathetic response: Ask Microsoft.

Ask all of us did, and it appears the Xbox overlords finally agreed with the general public’s bafflement—or a minimum of did not just like the appears to be like of The Outer Worlds 2’s pre-order numbers—as a result of Obsidian introduced as we speak that the worth will now be $70.

Dear Galactic Citizens!
We have obtained your SOS through skip drone concerning the pricing. As a corporation devoted to creating positive that firms don’t go unfettered, we on the Earth Directorate have labored with [REDACTED] to revise the worth of The Outer Worlds 2.

— @obsidian.web (@obsidian.net.bsky.social) 2025-07-23T19:45:47.668Z

“We have received your SOS via skip drone about the pricing,” Obsidian posted on its Bluesky account within the tone of the satirical RPG. “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.”

The worth has been up to date on The Outer Worlds 2’s Steam page.

It wasn’t all that lengthy after massive video games jumped from $60 to $70 that Nintendo obtained the ball rolling on a brand new $80 commonplace with Mario Kart World. It appears to be like like Microsoft’s eagerness to comply with go well with has subsided, as the corporate informed Windows Central that it’ll preserve “full priced holiday releases” at $70, which it says is “in line with current market conditions.”

This 12 months’s different Obsidian RPG, Avowed, launched at $70, and can also be obtainable on Game Pass, as new Microsoft video games are by default as of late. Less than six months after launch, Avowed was discounted to $46.89 through the Steam Summer Sale.

Meanwhile, although, we have seen some publishers pushing costs within the different route. One of essentially the most praised RPGs of the 12 months, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, launched at $50. Survival sport Dune: Awakening additionally launched at $50.