The Outer Worlds 2 Will Be Microsoft’s First $80 Game — And It's Launching This Year
- Sagar Mankar
- Jun 10
- 2 min read
The Outer Worlds 2 is set to launch on October 29, 2025, and it’s not just bringing cosmic chaos, it’s also making Xbox history… as the first first-party title priced at $79.99.
Yep, Microsoft is officially kicking off its new pricing era, and Obsidian’s highly anticipated sequel is leading the charge. This move was hinted at last month when Microsoft announced that price increases were coming not just for games, but also for consoles, controllers, and headsets.
“We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development,” Microsoft stated in an official statement.
Welcome to the $80 Era
Let’s be real — $80 is a big leap. And Xbox isn’t alone here. Nintendo’s Mario Kart World for the Switch 2 is also priced at $80, both physical and digital. That announcement didn’t go over well with fans, sparking a ton of online backlash. Even Doug Bowser, President of Nintendo of America, had to defend the price, citing the “value of the gameplay experience.”
Microsoft’s decision follows a similar logic: AAA game development is getting increasingly expensive, and publishers are starting to reflect that in pricing. It’s a shift we’ve seen brewing for a while — $60 games became $70, and now we’re staring down the barrel of $80 titles becoming the new norm for premium experiences.
What’s in the Game?
Price aside, The Outer Worlds 2 looks like it’s going to deliver a wild ride. Set in a new colony called Arcadia, the sequel introduces a fresh protagonist — an agent of the Earth Directorate — who’s investigating deadly dimensional rifts threatening all of humanity. There’s a new crew, new weapons, new enemies, and yes, that same witty, sarcastic Obsidian flavor fans loved in the first game.
Oh, and if that price tag stings a little? Remember, The Outer Worlds 2 will be available day one on Xbox Game Pass, which softens the blow quite a bit if you're a subscriber.
Watch the trailer below:
More $80 Games Incoming
The Outer Worlds 2 won’t be alone in this new pricing tier for long. Titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Gears of War: E-Day, the new Fable, and even the next Forza are likely to follow suit. While those haven’t confirmed pricing yet, don’t be surprised if $79.99 becomes the standard for first-party AAA games moving forward.
Gearbox’s CEO Randy Pitchford also stirred controversy recently after implying that “real fans” would pay $80 for Borderlands 4. He later walked back those comments and pointed to the ballooning costs of game development — Borderlands 4, for instance, has double the budget of its predecessor.
The Outer Worlds 2 is shaping up to be a major test case for whether players are truly ready to pay more for premium game experiences.
So, what do you think? Is the price hike justified by the scope and scale of modern games, or is this just another hit to players’ wallets?
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