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[LectureMaster]

Matt Booty Explains Why Xbox Ditched Its $80 Price Tag For Outer Worlds 2 & Other Games

"I’ll come back to the phrase meeting people where they are"

www.purexbox.com

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Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it was ditching a planned price increase for The Outer Worlds 2 and other "full priced holiday releases", presumably in response to poor sales and negative feedback.

Now, Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty has been discussing this in an interview with Variety, explaining that Xbox wants to achieve "player satisfaction and deliver "player value" whilst also "needing to run the healthy business", and therefore it's a balancing act that they're going to continue working on.

Here's what he said about pricing for AAA Xbox titles:

"Our whole focus is on delivering player satisfaction and delivering player value. And we're always going to be listening to what people want there. We've reacted in the last year and I think for us, the real focus is going to be — I'll come back to the phrase meeting people where they are.

I think there's going to be less of a focus on what's that top line price of a game, as people start to engage in different ways with games. From our point of view, monetization just happens in so many different ways right now. So we're going to continue to listen to the feedback from fans. We're going to continue, to balance that with needing to run the healthy business. But right now, on the content side, we don't have any pricing updates."

Of course, Xbox has increased prices in other ways recently — consoles and Xbox Game Pass being a couple of examples — and Booty certainly isn't saying that prices will never revert back to $80 for Xbox first-party titles in the future. For the time being though, it sounds like $69.99 remains the maximum fee as we head into early 2026.

Perhaps that's one of the reasons Xbox Game Pass Ultimate received such a big increase back in October, with Microsoft trying to charge more for their subscription rather than adding an extra $10 onto first-party titles. Whatever the case may be, don't be surprised if we hear more about price increases across the entire gaming industry next year.

 

[nial]

I remember thinking that only COD could have gotten away it.
Can you imagine how even worse a Black Ops 7 for $80 would have ended up doing?

 

[LectureMaster]

Wonder why MS ditched the $80 price tag for Outer Worlds 2?

 

[Artistic]

Xbox is for the people.

 

[Artistic]

Wonder why MS ditched the $80 price tag for Outer Worlds 2?

Probably not the best IP to experiment with.

 

[semiconscious]

I think there's going to be less of a focus on what's that top line price of a game, as people start to engage in different ways with games. From our point of view, monetization just happens in so many different ways right now. So we're going to continue to listen to the feedback from fans. We're going to continue, to balance that with needing to run the healthy business. But right now, on the content side, we don't have any pricing updates...

smh...

 

[reinking]

Xbox is for a few people.

Just kidding, I hope the next console bounces back.

 

[Disciple of MSSP]

B O O T Y

 

[Sooner]

Xbox is for the people.

Someone should tell the people, because the people have seemingly forgot about Xbox.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Pre-order numbers were garbage?.

Xbox wants to achieve "player satisfaction and deliver "player value" whilst also "needing to run the healthy business"


... Xbox wants everything, achieves nothing.

 

[TexMex]

The answer is because no one is buying their games at $70, so they couldn't expect anyone to buy it at $80. And if they could, that's exactly what they'd charge.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Cause they'd lose even more sales than they already do.

The end.

 

[Sooner]

The answer is because no one is buying their games at $70, so they couldn't expect anyone to buy it at $80.

No one was buying their consoles when they raised the prices (both times).

 

[Mister Wolf]

Because they aren't worth $80.

 

[TexMex]

No one was buying their consoles when they raised the prices (both times).

Hardware pricing is up across the board and cross industry. That is to operate at less of a loss. If anyone could sustain without it being a losing enterprise at old hardware pricing structures they would, no one wants that PR nightmare. Just have to put your head down and barrel though, most everyone did.

Games going from $70 to $80, especially first party ones where you aren't giving someone else a 30% rip, is just greed. Greed is easier to walk back under the guise of being pro consumer.

 

[DavidGzz]

Booty hole be yapping

 

[HRK69]

Man, it's just better to say nothing at this point

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Good Research LectureMaster

 

[kazuyamishima]

Even at $70, the game is a big Bomba.

And it doesn't look cheap to make.

 

[winjer]

Player satisfaction with Xbox games has been so good, that the brand is on a free fall.
And the value that Xbox offers is so low, that sales have plummeted to all time lows.

 

[AmuroChan]

Games going from $70 to $80, especially first party ones where you aren't giving someone else a 30% rip, is just greed. Greed is easier to walk back under the guise of being pro consumer.

XBox also has neither the pricing power nor the leverage to get people to pay $80 for their games when one can simply just play their games on Gamepass. So in many ways it's a self-inflicted problem.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

"Since we introduced Gamepass we taught our userbase that buying games was useless. That means people weren't even buying our games at the old price...now even less were buying them with the new one."

There.

 

[PauloRoberto]

Another idit that does not deserve the execute position... amazng that MS has so many chaps that should SHUT THE FUK UP

 

[Kuranghi]

My great gran who was born in the 1800s could've told you that

 

[LordCBH]

Translation: "We were getting fucking skull dragged."

 

[LordCBH]

I remember thinking that only COD could have gotten away it.
Can you imagine a how even worse a Black Ops 7 for $80 would have ended up doing?

My local game store is selling BO7 for $30 this weekend. I was just there getting some Christmas gifts and they have stacks of the game that nobody wants.

 

[Laptop1991]

Just like Ubisoft. it's not the real reason again lol, still too expensive at 70 and won't hit the sales target in their heads, and maybe one day they will tell the truth but that day is a long way off,

 

[zaga]

"We looked at the preorders and there were none"

 

[Sebastian1295]

Matt booty is always talking out of his booty.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Any Magnus news? People keep posting Xbox info and its never Magnus news.

 

[Rocky_Balboa]

If I would have paid $80 for Outer Worlds 2, I would be fuming.

 

[Fbh]

Pre orders: 5
MS executives:

 

[Crew511A]

Someone should tell the people, because the people have seemingly forgot about Xbox.

I'm still an Xbox fan, but holy crap is Microsoft clueless. Just find someone who actually enjoys video games, and put them in charge.

 

[Topher]

Xbox is for the people.

But apparentlly Game Pass is not

 

[Humdinger]

Jesus, the corpospeak is relentless. Is there an actual human being under there somewhere?

 

[Pasta la Vista]

I bet they try it again with the new Gears

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Any Magnus news? People keep posting Xbox info and its never Magnus news.

Wait until next year

 

[Dirk Benedict]

B O O T Y

Totally blew the chance to be disciple of MSRP.

 

[GigantorX]

Gamepass! Here's the the pitch....it's not a value add, or a showcase for lower studios, or an outlet to make a few bucks on classic titiles or a way to introduce older games to new players.....no....follow me here.....it's a service that tells our CUSTOMERS that buying games is totally useless! And! Are you following me? AND we make multiple tiers that don't matter because you don't buy the games.

How can this not win us the generation?!

 

[RafterXL]

God, I hate corpo speak. Just talk like a human being. You lowered the price because the game wasn't worth what you were asking and your customers let you know. You should have lowered it further.

Hardware pricing is up across the board and cross industry. That is to operate at less of a loss. If anyone could sustain without it being a losing enterprise at old hardware pricing structures they would, no one wants that PR nightmare. Just have to put your head down and barrel though, most everyone did.

Games going from $70 to $80, especially first party ones where you aren't giving someone else a 30% rip, is just greed. Greed is easier to walk back under the guise of being pro consumer.

Microsoft could easily sustain keeping the Xbox at launch prices, what are we talking about?

Put it this way, if Xbox sold 30 million consoles in 2025, which is equal to what they've sold in total, they'd lose like 2% of their total 2025 profits. It's not about "they would if they could" it's about "we aren't going to pay for this, our customers are". And that's selling a ridiculous amount of consoles that they won't even come close to. It's pocket change, and Microsoft had the opportunity to not be your usual shitbag company, but they are a shitbag company and this is just one, of the many, examples.

 

[Varteras]

Jesus, the corpospeak is relentless. Is there an actual human being under there somewhere?

Based on what I saw from that documentary for Double Fine, no. That man is a fucking robot with no innate ability to read a room.

 

[Klayzer]

Based on what I saw from that documentary for Double Fine, no. That man is a fucking robot with no innate ability to read a room.

Too true. The only "human" take Booty ever had, was the leaked email of wanting to spend Sony out of business. All of his public discourse is robo-corpo salads.

 

[TexMex]

God, I hate corpo speak. Just talk like a human being. You lowered the price because the game wasn't worth what you were asking and your customers let you know. You should have lowered it further.


Microsoft could easily sustain keeping the Xbox at launch prices, what are we talking about?

Put it this way, if Xbox sold 30 million consoles in 2025, which is equal to what they've sold in total, they'd lose like 2% of their total 2025 profits. It's not about "they would if they could" it's about "we aren't going to pay for this, our customers are". And that's selling a ridiculous amount of consoles that they won't even come close to. It's pocket change, and Microsoft had the opportunity to not be your usual shitbag company, but they are a shitbag company and this is just one, of the many, examples.

Them having a trillion dollar valuation is irrelevant. Of course they could shoulder the additional cost. They could give away a million consoles if they wanted to. Of course Microsoft isn't on the brink of bankruptcy.

But that doesn't mean it is reasonable to expect them to manufacture a product to sell at (more of) a loss. Costs go up, so does the MSRP, and that doesn't make it anti consumer either. They do plenty of things that are legitimately anti consumer that are worth holding them accountable for, but this notion that they should do anything that loses them money simply because they're one of the biggest doesn't work.

 

[PlayStaytion]

Wonder why MS ditched the $80 price tag for Outer Worlds 2?

It takes dedication to beat these games.

 

[RafterXL]

Them having a trillion dollar valuation is irrelevant. Of course they could shoulder the additional cost. They could give away a million consoles if they wanted to. Of course Microsoft isn't on the brink of bankruptcy.

But that doesn't mean it is reasonable to expect them to manufacture a product to sell at (more of) a loss. Costs go up, so does the MSRP, and that doesn't make it anti consumer either. They do plenty of things that are legitimately anti consumer that are worth holding them accountable for, but this notion that they should do anything that loses them money simply because they're one of the biggest doesn't work.

At a certain point chasing every nickel of profit at the expense of your reputation isn't exactly smart. I get it, inflation is crazy, buying power is terrible, but if there is any company on this planet that could shoulder a little of the burden to help it's customers it's freaking Microsoft. What amount of profit is enough? There is a reason when you say the name Arizona Tea Company people have a positive impression, even if they don't like the product.

BTW, The PlayStation 5 was $500 at launch and that's exactly what you can buy one for right now. The pS5 Pro is $650. The XSX was $500, and it cost $650 right now and the 2tb XSX is $800. Hell, Sony isn't exactly filled with angels so why are their products cheaper? It's absolutely reasonable to question why Microsoft can't eat a bit of the cost.

 

[diffusionx]

I'd have more respect for him if he said the real reason.

They wanted to sell this game at $80 and it had zero interest.

 

[midnightAI]

I'd have more respect for him if he said the real reason.

They wanted to sell this game at $80 and it had zero interest.

these corpo's must think we are really dumb

 

[Humdinger]

At a certain point chasing every nickel of profit at the expense of your reputation isn't exactly smart. I get it, inflation is crazy, buying power is terrible, but if there is any company on this planet that could shoulder a little of the burden to help it's customers it's freaking Microsoft. What amount of profit is enough? There is a reason when you say the name Arizona Tea Company people have a positive impression, even if they don't like the product.

30%. Amy Hood set that as the expectation.

 

[PurePlatinum]

This is PR speak for "pre orders looked grim"

 

[Labadal]

I'm not even willing to pay $60 for games.