Xbox Announces Their First $80 Game for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC

The first $80 Xbox game has been announced, as Xbox joins Nintendo in raising the prices of their video games.

[pwnmaster3000]

And then there was 1.
I’m honestly surprised this is not getting that much heat.

Imagine if Sony was the first to bring it to $80.
There will be 100s of f Sony article, journalist would have had a field day.

[rudero]

They are doing it to put pressure on Sony via gamepass.
Since it is a game from their acquisition and not from Microsof themselves….
It should at least still be a good game.

But obviously they are trying to control the market in order to get more subscribers.

[darthv72]

GPUFTMFW!!!

[The_Blue]

Victimizing Sony whilst the article mentions Xbox! Classic N4G.

[pwnmaster3000]

Xbox fanboys do it all the time but I don’t see you saying anything. If you can’t have the same every for all of them then hush up 🤫

Plus it’s the truth, we seen it happen already when EA , Sony, and Rockstar brought it to $70.
Why is MS and Nintendo different?
So my point is, is price increase not a big deal or is it only specific companies.

[InUrFoxHole]

😆 🤣 😂

[Gardenia]

80 is already the standard for digital games. I won't be paying that much for games.

[P_Bomb]

$106.49 CAD! Plus tax LMFAO. Are they INSANE?! I’m not going anywhere NEAR that price point.

[Ethereal]

Good lord....

[thorstein]

Think of the poor CEOs and hedge fund managers. Microsoft made 70 billion last year in income and revenue, which completely justified the layoffs.

You're just being selfish.

[TiredGamer]

Which one is it - Income or Revenue? Those are two very different principles in business.

[thorstein]

* 245 billion in revenue.

72 billion in net income (profit).

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

The layoffs have nothing to do with revenue and more to do with Trump's tax "reform."

[babadivad]

Edit:
It's actually 88.1 billion in profit. Which is even more insane.

[Good-Smurf]

Microsoft execs want more for their next Mercedes payments lol.
How would they do with less greens than the one they already had that's enough to feed a whole country.

[RaidenBlack]

Should've chosen Gears E-Day, Fable or CoD for that ... Outer Worlds 2 is not the best choice for 'Their First $80 Game', imho.

[RaiderNation]

My thinking exactly. This IP went from being this unassuming indy darling to now suddenly an 80.00 tentpole franchise in one sequel? LOL! If they were going to do this, they at least should've picked something more established like COD or E-Day. Hell, Clockwork Revolution looks like a more worthy 80.00 purchase than this.

[RaidenBlack]

But Clockwork Revolution is even less established than Outer Worlds IP and that too from inXile.

[RaiderNation]

@RaidenBlack

Thats the point I was trying to make. Clockwork is a new IP and already it looks like a more worthy game to charge 80.00 for.

[-Foxtrot]

Hottest launch for a Nintendo console…and this is what it’s come to

Well done guys..

You can’t just blame Microsoft when you all supported Nintendo day one. You could have just held off and waited until it went cheaper or Nintendo got the message while you played through your backlog on the Switch but you couldn’t help yourselves. If that had happened maybe Microsoft and others would have thought twice

Can’t wait for that full price GTAVI…fantastic /s

[excaliburps]

No way in hell GTA6 isn't at least $80. Now I can see it being $100. Yeesh. =(

[neutralgamer1992]

GTA6 standard edition will be $99.99

Deluxe edition with maybe 3 days early access will be $139-$149

Yes it may sell less copies I doubt it but they will generate way more Revenue GTA V sword for $60 how many people do you think will pay the $139 or $149 just to have Early Access I would imagine there will be millions of people because they have been waiting for GTA 6 for so long now

[senorfartcushion]

It’s going to be $80 and, sickeningly, Rockstar will be praised for it.

[thorstein]

Microsoft did not wait for Nintendo to make this decision.

That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works.

[neutralgamer1992]

Fox

Let’s talk about the real story behind the Switch 2 launch — and the state of the gaming industry in general.

Despite what Nintendo and retailers wanted everyone to believe, the Switch 2 wasn’t truly sold out on launch day. The hype machine made it sound like you needed to line up early, get a ticket, and pray you were one of the lucky few. But reality? Plenty of stores had stock all day — you could just walk in and grab one. This wasn’t scarcity. It was manufactured FOMO. Classic marketing tactic.

And it worked. Again. Nintendo continues to shatter records in hardware, software, and accessory sales. Meanwhile, gamers claim they’re tired of $80 price tags — but when their favorite game drops, they don’t hesitate. Suddenly, $80 becomes “worth it.” And that right there is why publishers don’t take our complaints seriously: because when it comes down to it, we enable them.

Look at Xbox with The Outer Worlds 2. It’s launching at $80, and yes — that stings. But Microsoft’s play is very different: they don’t want you to buy the game outright. They want you in their ecosystem, subscribed to Game Pass. That’s their long game. But if you’re on a platform where Game Pass isn’t an option? $80 hurts. I was honestly looking forward to Outer Worlds 2, but I’m waiting until it hits $30 or less — maybe the complete edition with all DLC. That’s how I speak with my wallet.

If we really want things to change, we have to stop complaining and start acting. Publishers won’t change unless we stop feeding them money. I feel like a broken record saying this, but until we collectively speak with our wallets, nothing will get better.

And honestly, we’ve been here before. Remember when online passes were introduced? People defended them too — “support the developers,” “if you buy used, you should pay extra.” Then came microtransactions. First, it was “they’re just cosmetic, they don’t affect gameplay.” Until they did. And now, microtransactions are generating more revenue than game sales for many publishers. They’re not just in online games anymore — they’re in single-player titles, in sports games, everywhere.

Look at Ubisoft. XP boosters, in-game currency, “grind-saving” purchases. You can either suffer through a stretched-out, padded grind… or pay up. That’s the choice they’ve designed. And yet, we still defend this garbage.

The truth is: these companies don’t care about us. They care about profit. And as long as we keep paying, why would they stop

[kpgs]

Yep. Outer Worlds went from Day one purchase to Black Friday or Holiday sale.

[franwex]

I think Fox is not complaining about the price, he’s complaining about people not speaking with their wallets when they stated they would.

[senorfartcushion]

This is very narrow thinking.

This is a politics issue. A greedy company being greedy in the 21st century is just that.

Having the political climate that allows such greed is the issue. Lazy people, dumbasses and selfish, corrupted gonads only leads to regular people spending more money to do their day to day thing. Voting wrongly, or not at all - or even not knowing HOW to vote (in a lot of cases) is the problem.

It’s what men and women do. Those who don’t are pathetic anchors on their respective countries.

[NotoriousWhiz]

Yes it sucks that game prices are going up. But if paying more for games keeps the industry alive and stops companies from consolidating and seeking a buy out, then $80 is a price I'm okay with.

I mean this in a general sense, there is zero chance of me paying 80$ for outer worlds 2. But I will pay it for GTA VI.

[neutralgamer1992]

that’s not how this industry works anymore.

Year after year, we watch these publishers break revenue records, post massive profits, and hand out even bigger bonuses to CEOs — and yet, they still lay off thousands of developers. It’s not about needing more money. It’s about never being satisfied with the money they already have.

Raising prices won’t stop consolidation. It just raises the price tag on the next acquisition. If anything, higher prices validate more greed, not less. When revenue goes up, Wall Street expects it to keep going up, endlessly — even if that means slashing jobs, gutting studios, or squeezing every last cent out of players.

Meanwhile, you have games like Stellar Blade, Black Myth: Wukong, and Expedition 33 — made with much smaller budgets, still delivering incredible quality and turning massive profits. Those prove you don’t need a $200 million budget to succeed. The 'games are too expensive to make' excuse is tired. What’s expensive is executive overhead, marketing bloat, and mismanagement.

Let’s be real: hedge funds and short-term investors don’t care about the long-term health of this industry. They want fast returns. If a company collapses after that, it doesn’t matter — they already cashed out. So no — $80 games won't stop layoffs or mergers. It’ll just feed the same cycle we’ve been stuck in for years.

The only way out of this mess is real structural change — not just paying more and hoping for the best

AAA games keep ballooning in size and complexity, which inflates costs dramatically.
There is room for extra revenue — but it has to feel fair and non-predatory:

Cosmetic-only microtransactions (like Helldivers 2 or Monster Hunter).

Optional expansions/DLCs that add real value (like The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine).

Battle passes that don’t pressure players with FOMO or heavy grind.

The key is transparency and player respect — not squeezing them dry
Not every game needs to be a $250M behemoth. Mid-tier games like:

Stellar Blade

Sifu

Hi-Fi Rush

Lies of P

[Relientk77]

Guess I'm waiting for a sale

[Obscure_Observer]

The beauty of GAMEPASS

[badz149]

you're absolutely right on this one...until they jack up the price for that one, AGAIN! next on the pricehike menu - PC gamepass!

[LoveSpuds]

You are so short sighted and blinkered squire!

Do you think that the moment XBox achieve any kind of dominant market share, they won't increase the price of their services massively?

They are literally showing you how avaricious they are and you just bang on about your blinkered talking points...the mind boggles.

[Armyofdarkness]

Don’t entertain this wanker. He single handedly makes this site so much worse by commenting all his nonsense. It’s tiresome. That being said I’m glad there are people like you with common sense!

[MrDead]

"The beauty of GAMEPASS"

Yes, buy up and consolidate a massive part of the industry, fire thousands of workers then raise prices to try and get more people onto your subscription service. Such beauty.

[jznrpg]

Don’t worry that will be going up too

[Obscure_Observer]

I´m not worried, my boy. Got my 3 year Ultimate subscription secured! ;)

[Elda]

The very reason I have Gamepass. I will not be paying $80 for XB first party games when I can rent them from Gamepass. Though I have no interest in playing The Outer Worlds 2, I couldn't get into the first one.

[badz149]

as long as you've been subscribing anyway, just play it for the lulz

[Elda]

I've stated in my comment I have no interest in playing TOW 2....lol!

[ravens52]

Wasn't getting this anyway, its not likely that I buy any $80 game lol. F that and f Nintendo and a strong dislike to the people who let Nintendo turn em upside down n shake em for their lunch money.

[victorMaje]

Thank you. I was getting it, now I’ll wait.

[ravens52]

You can or you can not. It's up to you 🤷🏾. I dont have to like the fact that people supporting this is just going to backfire on us as the gaming community.

[MaximusPrime_]

Wait till Microsoft raise their Gamepass prices

[Goodguy01]

Why this game though? Is it that big of a game? I know people liked it but outer worlds 1 didn't take the world by storm like MK8 did it? Lol.

[badz149]

and this too after not putting the whole game on disc. the audacity haha. I will continue not buying MS's games until they right their wrongdoings!

[CrimsonWing69]

Here’s the thing. I’m seriously taking a stand on this. Out of spite I’ll now be waiting on games to go on sale. The thing is we can get this sh*t reversed if a majority of consumers vote Roth their wallet.

[Hedstrom]

The game is gonna get slaughtered in sales. But i dont think MS will care. It will make Game pass look better buy raising the prices of their games. And when more people sub they just raise the price of game pass.

[Scissorman]

this could be sony's game sharing moment from e3 all those years ago. keep the prices at $70 for the remainder of the generation.

[Jingsing]

As far as I can tell Microsoft hasn't released a game on any platform, if it isn't on disc or cart then it isn't released. You can fully expect Microsoft to rescind their content (delist) on rival platforms when the pendulum swings back in their favor. Don't buy their software.

[thorstein]

Just made Gamestop viable again with the used games market.

[jznrpg]

If I do buy any MS games I’ll get them used and cheap. No game on disc and want to charge 80$ is madness. Nintendo too.

[hiawa23]

No surprise at this point.

[kayoss]

This was inevitable. We knew this was coming because the cost of making games has increased significantly. Its naive of us to think that games will stay $60. Im just surprised that it took this long for games to increase.

[Blad3runner00]

This just means I will be pirating this one.
If only you had stuck with the $60, you would have gotten $60 instead of $0.

[MrDead]

Doesn't surprise me seeing MS leading at the front with these price rises.

[Obscure_Observer]

No sure why have this urge to lie just to make MS look bad.

Nintendo started this sh!t and you know it.

[MrDead]

Don't need to lie, MS brought $80 to multiplatform games.

Your hero's are the worst thing to happen to gaming. Deal with it kid.

[Obscure_Observer]

@MrDead

"Don't need to lie, MS brought $80 to multiplatform games."

What load of childish fabricated bs. Smh.

"Your hero's are the worst thing to happen to gaming. Deal with it kid."

No dude, YOU deal with it!

PC gamers, Xbox gamers, PS5 gamers, Mobile gamers AND Nintendo gamers! MS is bringing their games to all!

Everyone is playing! Xbox games leading sales on Playstation making Xbox games even better and more genre diverse while you erode in hate.

MS can´t hurt you. Your hate is eating you alive as it is.

You hate WE play!

[MrDead]

Awww, sorry did I hurt your feels? You run in ever decreasing circles kid.

"MS can´t hurt you."

Tell that to the people of Gaza

"The Guardian found that the leaked documents “illustrate how the US tech behemoth supported a range of sensitive activities” including managing the movement of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Microsoft engineers have been providing support to Israel through their analysis of “visual intelligence” – likely the innumerable drones used by the Israeli military. The scale of Microsoft’s support is such that it is providing the infrastructure of genocide, as the Guardian report:"

https://www.thecanary.co/gl...

[northpaws]

EVERYTHING are more expensive these days... I don't see why gaming would be an exception... I don't like it but it is within expectation...

[SimpleSlave]

SimpleSlave announces that you have a large backlog of games. Yeah, you. We all do. So, you know, just wait until the prices tank and go play some of those great games you paid money for.

Seriously, it's that easy. And in a few months? Nab that new game for less than half the price. Trust me, you'll be used to waiting, no problem.

[senorfartcushion]

This is one example of why all adults should follow politics and an example of why the morons who are always like “keep politics out of my-“ only serve to hurt everyone including themselves in some way.

[DustMan]

Honestly. I hate to say it, but I hope the game absolutely sells like crap. I don't care if it's spectacular. I hope it fails for the pricing alone. I know the Devs don't set the price, but if their was ever a time to talk with a wallet. This is it.

[anast]

They want everyone to start subscribing. I played the first one. It was worth $30. I assume this one won't be a better experience.

[RhinoGamer88]

Today, Phil was interviewed by Game Informer, when asked about the recent XBOX hardware/software prices increases...this was his comment. "My Executive team and I were eyeing the sexy new Ferrari 458 Speciale. In order for all of use to secure one, more revenue was needed. I like to thank all XBOX consumers helping us to realize our dreams." #failup

[DivineHand125]

If you must play the outer worlds 2, play it on Gamepass. like most single player games, it may be a 1 and done experience.

Reject $80 games.

[gigoran8]

cool. So it's wait until discounts or key websites for me from now then. until the wage and cost of living matches their expectations of game prices match I won't be buying their new price point games at release.

[cloganart]

Looking forward to not buying it full price.

[HyperMoused]

Damn i was looking forward to that too, well i wont be paying that, plenty of other games to play

[Grave]

There's too many games any more. I have such a big backlog I just wait for a game to be released, let it get patched, then wait for the GOTY edition, then wait for the remaster, then wait for that to go on sale for 50% off on a Summer Sale and boom: an $80 game is now $39.99 plus you get all the patches and DLCs. I just got Alan Wake 2 Deluxe Edition on PS5 for $33. Division 2 Ultimate Edition with everything is $34.99 right now. That's what I'm talking about.

[InUrFoxHole]

Pass on $80

[TheColbertinator]

I'm buying 3 copies. Phil needs my help.

[Good-Smurf]

Fuckin' hell doesn't take long at all for this shitty pricey trend to spread out.
Thanks Nintendo now the rest of the suits and accountants are getting the wrong idea by the success of Mario Kart World.
Fuck this shit, if Sony follows suit I'm not buying anything new from them at that price regardless of title.

[Redemption-64]

Imagine if Sony came out and said they will not increase their price?

[Ethanlowe1287]

YO HO HO A PIRATES LIFE FOR MEEEEEE

[I_am_Batman]

If you're gonna charge a higher price at least put the damn game on disc instead of releasing a boxed download code.

[SoloGamer1]

sheesh