Move over The Last of Us, now The Outer Worlds gets to be the poster child for 'did we really need it' remasters

The Last of Us Part 1 was a complete visual remake of the original game, and coming just nine years after the PS3 release, even series fans were quick to question whether they wanted to buy it over again. Now how would you feel about buying a much less substantial remaster of a 2019 game?

The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition was announced earlier today ahead of its launch on March 7. This edition of Obsidian's 2019 satirical sci-fi RPG will feature enhanced visuals for next-gen consoles and PC, an increased level cap, and all the previously-released DLC. Even if you already own the original game and DLC, you'll have to spend $10 for the upgrade, and now I'm scratching my head over who, exactly, this release is for.

The Outer Worlds is a fine enough game and I'm happy to see it get an update, but there's a precedent - and I think now an expectation - for next-gen upgrades to be freebies there to generate goodwill for the franchise. Games like Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima have gotten away with charging for similar upgrades, but both those games also featured substantial new content to sweeten the deal. Even The Last of Us Part 1 might've hewed closely to the original, but at least it was a whole new game from a technical perspective.

While Obsidian was bought out by Microsoft prior to the release of The Outer Worlds, both the original game and the Spacer's Choice Edition are published by Private Division, a subsidiary of Take-Two. The Outer Worlds 2 is due out under the Xbox banner, uh… eventually.

For more upcoming Xbox Series X games, you know where to click.