Earlier this year, Xbox announced that it would be followingMario Kart World’sexample with $80 first-party games,starting with The Outer Worlds 2. It was an incredibly controversial move thateven director Brandon Adler took issue with, who clarified that Obsidian didn’t set the price, and that he wishes “everybody could play [his] game”.
Hardware is likewise seeing price increases across the board, with reports thatthe ROG Xbox Ally might cost as much as $899.99.
As reported byWindows Central, the backlash has been so severe that Xbox has already walked back this decision. It just announced thatThe Outer Worlds 2and future first-party releases will now retail at $69.99, with refunds to be issued starting today for anyone who pre-ordered the game.
“We’re focused on bringing players incredible worlds to explore, and will keep our full-priced holiday releases, including The Outer Worlds 2, at $69.99 - in line with current market conditions,” an Xbox spokesperson said.
$80 Might Not Be The New Norm, After All
There were concerns earlier this year thatBorderlands 4would likewise cost $80, continuing this trend; Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford even defended the price, saying that,“If you’re a real fan, you’ll make it happen”. However, when the announcement finally came,it wasn’t $80, but $69.99. So far, the only game to bump up its price has been Mario Kart World, which isproving even more controversial in the wake of the cheaper Donkey Kong Bananza.
Regardless, industry veterans like former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida are all in on $80 games,arguing that they’re a “steal” and that gamers shouldn’t “be complaining”. Some even worried that GTA 6 would take it a step further with a $100 price tag, butTake-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stressed that “we want to get it into as many hands as we possibly can”, refuting these rumours.
Insider Gamingrecently reported that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 would cost $80, but that seems unlikely now.
Between Xbox abandoning its plans in mere months, the fact that only one Nintendo game costs $80 so far, andEA stating that it will make “no changes” to its pricing, $80 doesn’t appear to be the new standard. $70, which was only introduced in 2020, is thankfully still the norm.
