The Outer Worlds 2 has been the latest subject of controversy with regards to its price tag. With Obsidian Entertainment and Microsoft having recently confirmed that the RPG will be priced at $80, this has led quite a few to protest the pricing strategy. Director Brandon Adler spoke in an interview about how the studio doesn’t get to make decisions about a game’s price.
Speaking to GamesRadar, Adler reiterated that “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.”
The Outer Worlds 2’s $79.99 price tag was officially confirmed over the weekend shortly after it got its trailer. Details about a Premium Edition were also revealed. Priced at $99.99, it will include two of the planned post-launch expansion releases, along with a digital artbook, the soundtrack, and in-game goodies in the form of the Corporate Appreciation Premium Pack. Check out our coverage for more details.
The trailer that was released for The Outer Worlds 2 over the weekend gave us a glimpse at some of its story, which puts players in the shoes of an Earth Directorate agent that has set off to Arcadia to investigate potential universal-scale threats. The trailer also confirmed that the RPG will be coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 29.
Recently, Adler also spoke about how Obsidian Entertainment took criticisms about the tonal dissonance from The Outer Worlds to heart, leading to the studio making the upcoming sequel darker and less silly than the original game. He acknowledged that the writing in The Outer Worlds “could sometimes be one note”.
“You’ll notice that there’s a little bit of a less silly, darker tone that comes out. That’s mainly because of Leonard,” Adler said. “That’s his kind of vibe, and so he has more of a push on that stuff. And so I think even the overall story feels a little bit like a darker take on what’s going on there.”
This doesn’t mean that The Outer Worlds 2 will be a completely serious game with zero comedy, however. Adler also noted that players will be able to find some of the more humourous writing in the game in places where it would actually make sense.
“We still wanted to make sure that we had a lot of the same feeling as the first and so when players are interacting with the different factions, they also get to see that absurd humor that comes through,” Adler explained. “Hopefully it’s a little bit less silly and a lot more absurd.”
In the meantime, you can sate your hunger for more details about The Outer Worlds 2 by reading about the game’s three primary factions: The Protectorate, The Order of the Ascendant, and Auntie’s Choice.
