Microsoft backs down on $80 triple-A games

The top price of new video games is suddenly a hot topic, with many publishers pushing for a higher $80 price tag just a year or two after $70 suddenly became commonplace. Notably, Nintendo’s price ceiling for Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World is $80. Microsoft had planned to jump on this particular bandwagon starting with The Outer Worlds 2, but now seems to have reversed course.

Back in May, Microsoft had announced that base prices for its biggest games for the 2025 holiday season would be increasing to $80 (or $79.99, if you ask the marketers).

Today, The Outer Worlds 2 social accounts announced that it would get a preemptive price cut, down to the current $69.99 standard for new, heavily-promoted triple-A games. Microsoft confirmed to Windows Central that its first-party games for PC and Xbox will remain at the $70 USD level this year, with similar pricing in other markets.

There are a lot of factors at play here. Nintendo is certainly pushing prices higher… but Nintendo is Nintendo. While not an untouchable behemoth of the gaming industry, Nintendo’s customers are far more loyal than on other platforms and willing to pay a premium for first-party Nintendo games. The Switch 2 has become the fastest-selling console in history, even as many balk at its $450 base price.

So applying Nintendo’s moves to the market as a whole might not be wise, especially as consumers are hurting under increased prices for basically everything. Gearbox CEO and enthusiastic autopodomasticator* Randy Pitchford floated the idea of releasing Borderlands 4 at $80, before likewise backing down. The entire industry seems to be terrified of the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto VI, which has been rumored for a $100 release, seemingly on the basis that it’s likely to break sales records at just about any price. (*He likes to put his foot in his mouth.)

Now consider that Microsoft doesn’t seem particularly interested in selling games at retail, or even selling consoles at retail, since it’s now almost entirely focused on the Game Pass subscription model. With the Xbox being the clear current loser in the console war, Microsoft is leaning on its PC prowess to try and sell Xbox as a platform instead. Notably, the “this is an Xbox” campaign has stretched to laptops, phones, and handheld PCs like the co-branded ROG Xbox Ally, plus an Xbox-branded Meta Quest VR headset. Getting people signed up for Game Pass is much more of a priority than selling triple-A games from its myriad studios, including Outer Worlds developer Obsidian.

On top of all that, gamers have never had more options at all price levels, especially on the PC. There are tens of thousands of new games landing on Steam every year, most of them well below those $60/$70/$80 levels. A considerable chunk of them are free-to-play, a model that’s not without its issues yet seems increasingly appealing as consumers are forced to pinch pennies. Game Pass itself is a fairly economical alternative, especially since it has streaming options for those who lack powerful hardware and can be cancelled at any time.

So it doesn’t seem too surprising that Microsoft got cold feet for $80 games, at least for now. But games aren’t getting any cheaper to make, and Microsoft has also become something of a slaughterhouse after cutting thousands of jobs, including those at its many developer and publisher acquisitions (reportedly to pay for increased AI investment).

Don’t be surprised if that $80 price tag comes back after Rockstar drops GTA VI on the holidays like a bunker-buster bomb. The fact that this kerfuffle has surrounded The Outer Worlds 2, a sequel to a game inspired by the Fallout series and absolutely soaking in Gilded Age imagery and critique of unchecked capitalism, is perhaps a nice little easter egg.