Xbox says goodbye to $80 games for now, drops The Outer Worlds 2 to $70 and promises to "keep our full priced holiday releases" to the old standard

$80 games were starting to seem inevitable, but upcoming RPG The Outer Worlds 2 is showing that the transition to pricier games isn't going quite as smoothly as publishers might've hoped. Xbox has announced that the game, which had previously been announced at an $80 price point, will instead launch at the now-standard $70 MSRP.

"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 in a statement to IGN. The company also said refunds for those who pre-ordered the game at $80 should be going out shortly.

"We have received your SOS via skip drone about the pricing," developer Obsidian said in a much sillier message directly to fans on social media. "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."

Dear Galactic Citizens! We have received your SOS via skip drone about the pricing. 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.

— @obsidian.net (@obsidian.net.bsky.social) 2025-07-23T14:36:18.430Z

The other big Xbox-published game for the year is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, which does not yet have a confirmed price. Today's announcement makes $70 sound like a sure thing, however. So far, the only major title across the industry to launch at $80 - not counting deluxe editions or the like - has been Mario Kart World on Switch 2.

The Outer Worlds 2 director Brandon Adler said in a Summer Game Fest interview last month that the devs themselves "don't set the prices for our games," and "for the reasons and so like, why the $79.99 price point, you'd have to honestly talk to the Xbox folks." Clearly, those Xbox folks have heard the outcry from the fandom about the price point.

We know Xbox is dipping out of the pricing arms race for now, but there are plenty of new games for 2025 and beyond from other publishers - including GTA 6 - that may continue to test the waters.