Shortly after confirming that The Outer Worlds 2 is getting price drop before its release from its originally-planned $79.99 price tag to $69.99, Microsoft has released a statement where it conceded that the game’s price was initially too high. Speaking to Jez Corden of Windows Central, a spokesperson for Xbox revealed the decision was made in order to bring the game’s price in line with “current market conditions”.
“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,” said the spokesperson.
In another statement, Microsoft has also confirmed that the change in price will also apply to regions outside of the US, like UK and EU. However, for buyers that may not have seen the price change reflected as of yet, the company has stated that it might take a day or two for the price to get updated.
When it had announced the drop in price from $79.99 to $69.99, Microsoft had also confirmed that it would be offering refunds to those that had already pre-ordered the title at the higher price point. The Premium Edition, however, is not seeing a chance in pricing, and will remain at $99.99. Along with in-game goodies, the Premium Edition will also give buyers five days of early access, along with two post-launch expansions.
Microsoft had first announced that The Outer Worlds 2 would be priced at $79.99, making it the first game published by Xbox to hit the same price point as Nintendo’s Mario Kart World. The decision was likely made following Nintendo’s own pricing strategy to try and see if the higher price point would work for the company going forward.
The Outer Worlds 2 director Brandon Adler had spoken about the pricing of the game back in June, saying that the studio is just in charge of making the game, while decisions around the pricing are made by the publisher.
“We’re a game developer. We love to make games. We don’t set the prices for our games,” explained Adler. “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 is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 29. The release date, alongside the fact that the RPG would be coming to PS5 as well, was revealed through a trailer that was released in early June. The trailer gave us a look at some of the upcoming title’s story, which revolves around the player taking on the role of an Earth Directorate agent that is investigating universe-scale threats on Arcadia.
Adler had previously also spoken about the studio taking criticism about the writing of the original The Outer Worlds, and how the sequel will be less silly than its predecessor.