Xbox abandons $80 price tag for the rest of its Holiday line-up

Following the surprise announcement last month that Microsoft’s upcoming holiday titles would retail for $80 (starting with The Outer Worlds 2), the console maker backtracked on this decision, instead charging the more ‘standard’ $70. It seems as though Obsidian’s upcoming RPG isn’t the only game being lowered to $70 – with all of Microsoft’s upcoming Holiday titles dropping back down to the previous industry standard.
Following the likes of Nintendo and Mario Kart World, Microsoft announced back in June that its upcoming full-priced Holiday releases will all be retailing for $80 – starting with The Outer Worlds 2.
As mentioned, Microsoft has since backtracked on this decision, claiming “current market conditions” as the reason for this change of heart.
While already an interesting alteration, what is perhaps more surprising is the fact that The Outer Worlds 2 isn’t the only title being dropped back down to $70, with Microsoft telling the publication Windows Central:
“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.”
Of course, though we don’t know all of Microsoft’s Holiday plans, one major title which would have cost $80 was the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
While Nintendo still got the ball rolling with $80 video games, it is encouraging at the very least to see one of the biggest publishers in the world choosing to go back and stick with $70 as the standard – at least for now.
KitGuru says: What do you think of this decision? Why did Microsoft backtrack? Are you more likely to pick up Microsoft’s Holiday releases following this announcement? Let us know down below.