Xbox gets a lot of criticism from fans, some warranted, some less so. One thing they don't get enough credit for however is listening to the fanbase and they have shown that willingness once again today as they reverse course on a controversial pricing decision with The Outer Worlds 2.
During the Xbox Showcase back in June it was revealed that The Outer Worlds 2, Obsidians next major project, would be the beginning of a new price point for first party games at Xbox. The new price would now be $79.99USD going forward due to a shifting market and costs.
Well apparently the market has shifted once again as they are now going back to the $69.99 price point.
An Xbox spokesperson told 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 - in line with current market conditions."
Obsidian has also followed up with a social media post announcing this decision. All players who pre-ordered at the original price point will receive a refund of the balance.
The wording of the statement is also important here as it shows that this isn't just for The Outer Worlds 2, but all their holiday releases, presumably including the next Call Of Duty. We will see a full reveal of Black Ops 7 at Gamescom in a few weeks so we will likely know around then.
Ultimately this is a good news story for consumers. There's already been some speculation that this move was done because pre-orders were low. There's no way to know that for sure though so that is just the internet being the internet.
Unfortunately for physical media fans they haven't yet reversed their decision to put codes in a box of the Xbox version. Hopefully with them listening on the price, they will soon listen on the disc issue.
