At this time’s Xbox Summer season Recreation Fest showcase was a strong hour of massive and small bulletins, together with a brand new Name of Responsibility trailer and the reveal of Xbox’s handheld PC gadget. But it surely additionally introduced us our first $80 Xbox recreation.
The Outer Worlds 2, Obsidian’s subsequent large open-world RPG following this 12 months’s glorious Avowed, kicked off Xbox’s showcase with a brand new trailer. And after the occasion, Xbox and Obsidian confirmed off much more of the upcoming house RPG sequel. It additionally opened up pre-orders, and that’s when individuals found that Outer Worlds 2 is $80.
Whereas reactions to this information have been largely unfavourable, it isn’t stunning. We knew Xbox was going to start out charging $80 for video games this 12 months, as the corporate confirmed this was the plan in Might. It introduced final month that it was elevating costs on all {hardware} and equipment, too. And it confirmed that by the vacations, a few of its new first-party video games will see a value soar from $70 to $80. Sadly for Outer Worlds 2 and builders Obsidian, the upcoming RPG is the primary Xbox recreation to be priced at $80.
When Microsoft introduced its plans to lift costs on video games and consoles, it didn’t specify why. But it surely’s not laborious to attach the dots. Xbox is elevating costs because of President Trump’s ongoing tariff struggle in opposition to different international locations. Whereas it’s true that costs for Xbox consoles and equipment are rising all all over the world, the distinction is much better within the U.S.
In fact, Xbox isn’t the primary online game firm to cost $80 for a online game. Nintendo famously broke the web when it introduced that Mario Kart World on Change 2 was going to be priced at $80. And I’d guess my subsequent lunch that GTA 6 will value at the very least $80 when it arrives in Might 2026.
It wasn’t that way back that individuals have been getting used to $70 video games. And now that Xbox has lastly made the leap, it’s solely a matter of time till different firms begin charging $80 as one of the vital costly hobbies round, will get much more expensive.
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