Xbox Reverses Plans for $80 Games, Refunds Outer Worlds 2 Pre-Orders

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It appears that Xbox has changed its approach regarding $80 games, such as The Outer Worlds 2, at least temporarily. Throughout this generation, Xbox fans have experienced a lot of back-and-forth, with changes in direction being fairly frequent. For instance, they initially announced Halo Infinite as a launch title for the Xbox Series X|S, but later postponed it by an entire year. Following this, Xbox made it clear that they were not intending to release major games on PlayStation. However, they subsequently revealed Gears of War and Forza Horizon 5 for the PS5. Additionally, Xbox praised the performance of Hi-Fi Rush only to later close down the studio that created it.

In the past few weeks, Xbox decided to discontinue Perfect Dark and close its associated studio, marking almost an entire year since the game’s initial presentation. This announcement coincided with Xbox announcing that they will be increasing the prices of their games to $80 this holiday season, as well as raising hardware costs. This decision did not sit well with many people, despite Xbox’s first-party games being instantly accessible through Xbox Game Pass. The Outer Worlds 2 was initially confirmed to be subjected to this price increase, and fans were further dismayed because the game does not even come with a physical disc, making the higher price seem even more exorbitant.

Xbox Reverts Plans to Charge $80 for New Games

Following Nintendo’s initial increase in the price of Nintendo Switch 2 games such as “Mario Kart World,” they encountered significant controversy. It appears that Xbox is now acknowledging this move may not have been the best decision. According to Windows Central, Xbox has decided to abandon its plans to sell their games for $80 during the upcoming holiday season. Those who had pre-ordered “The Outer Worlds 2” can request refunds starting today and tomorrow, depending on the retailer, and a new pre-order will cost $69.99.

An Xbox representative shared that they are committed to offering players amazing realms to delve into, and plan to maintain the full-priced holiday releases such as The Outer Worlds 2 at $69.99, aligning with present market standards.

It’s highly likely that the price of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will stay at $70 for now. However, there’s always a chance things could change next year. Most publishers haven’t dared to release $80 games except for those on Xbox and Nintendo, so it seems like they might be sticking with the $70 price point for a while. It might increase when the next console generation arrives, but fans seem to have made it clear that they aren’t keen on higher prices at the moment.

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2025-07-23 18:09