Consoles, accessories, games, nothing escapes price increases. But we didn't necessarily expect The Outer Worlds 2 to be sold for as much as the biggest upcoming Xbox games.
After the Xbox Games Showcase 2025, which was full of announcements, Microsoft held a conference focused on The Outer Worlds 2. The game will be released on October 29, 2025, and its price didn't fail to get a reaction from players. Obsidian's title is indeed sold for 79.99 euros in France and 79.99 US dollars in the United States.
While European consumers have already seen first-party Xbox games at 79.99 euros (for example, Doom The Dark Ages), this is the first time that the 79.99 US dollar threshold has been reached across the Atlantic. When announcing a price increase for its consoles and accessories a few weeks ago, Xbox specified that an increase in game prices should also be expected. The Outer Worlds 2 is the symbol of this new pricing policy, and we should expect all future big Xbox games to be offered at this price.
Game Pass and Xbox Play Anywhere as arguments
If we were prepared, a few elements reinforce the frustration of a certain portion of players. First of all, the fact that The Outer Worlds 2 is starting this new trend may seem strange. The first game wasn't considered a AAA production. The ambitions of the second one may be higher, but seeing this sequel as the standard-bearer for $80 games is a strange choice by Microsoft.
Furthermore, The Outer Worlds universe is a satire on capitalism. It could almost be considered a provocation by Microsoft to choose this game to initiate a price increase. Finally, we also hoped that these prices would apply to the console and Xbox PC versions of the games, and not to the Steam version. It failed.
The publisher's objective here seems clear: to make players decide that it's not worth buying The Outer Worlds 2 at this price, and that they subscribe to Game Pass instead. This is at the heart of Xbox's strategy. And for those willing to pay that much for the game, Microsoft is offering the Xbox Play Anywhere option. If you buy a version of a game within the Xbox ecosystem, you can play it on both console and PC without having to buy the title multiple times.
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