The Outer Worlds 2 director responds to $80 price tag

Microsoft concluded its recent Xbox Games Showcase event with a lengthy deep-dive into the upcoming The Outer Worlds 2. While it appears to be a solid sequel to 2019’s AA affair, the game has seen some backlash for being the first in Microsoft’s new $80 push. Though unsurprising, the team at Obsidian have confirmed that the price was dictated by Microsoft, not them.
The recent Outer Worlds 2 showcase offered a ton of new details surrounding Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming RPG – touching on many of the sequel’s improvements, changes and additions.
That said, given the fact that the first entry in the series launched back in 2019 for the now-relatively cheap price point of $60, the increase to $80 for the sequel has given some fans pause.
In an interview conducted by GamesRadar+ during Summer Game Fest however, the director for The Outer Worlds 2 spoke on the pricing decision, clarifying:
“We’re a game developer. We love to make games. We don’t set the prices for our games. Like, personally, as a game developer, I wish everybody could play my game, because that’s what I want out of this whole thing. But for the reasons and so like, why the $79.99 price point, you’d have to honestly talk to the Xbox folks.”
While this was known by most already, it is interesting to see the game’s director outright state this fact.
The discussion surrounding video games and their value is a rather complicated one, especially with different publishers having their own metric for what price a game should be. That said, hopefully the surprising price tag for The Outer Worlds 2 does not ultimately lead to lower-than-expected sales.
It will be interesting to see what Game Pass numbers wind up looking like when the game launches later this year.
KitGuru says: What do you think of the $80 price tag? Can The Outer Worlds 2 justify it? Can Microsoft justify it? Let us know your thoughts down below.