The Outer Worlds 2 Reportedly Sold Fewer Than 1 Million Copies
The first game sold over 2 million in its first three months.
Well, while it was already clear even before the sequel's release that we most likely won't see The Outer Worlds 3, a notion later somewhat confirmed by Chris Avellone, a new report estimating TOW2's sales in its first three months since launch has just surfaced, essentially cementing the idea that Obsidian's capitalism-lambasting franchise is done for.
Obsidian
As estimated by industry consultant Daniel Camilo, The Outer Worlds 2 has sold less than 1 million units across all platforms since release – a figure that's both small in and of itself, considering it's a AAA title from a well-known studio we're talking about, but which also lags behind the original TOW, which Camilo notes sold over 2 million copies in the same period – and that, mind you, despite the original being an Epic Games Store exclusive and not available on Steam for its first year.
The analyst did acknowledge that TOW2's actual player count could easily be higher than one million thanks to Xbox Game Pass. Still, considering an earlier report showing the Call of Duty franchise lost $300 million in potential revenue due to the subscription service, it's reasonable to assume a similar pattern applies here, meaning that even accounting for Game Pass, the sequel was most likely a financial failure for its creators.
Making the situation even more absurd is that out of its entire catalog, Xbox thought this very game was worthy of becoming the publisher's first $80 title – until an absolute tsunami of criticism wiped that idea from the heads of Microsoft's executives. One can only imagine how low the player numbers, and, by extension, revenues, would have been if The Outer Worlds 2 had actually launched at $80 a pop, as even in our mainline $70 reality, the game barely passes 1K concurrent players on Steam at its daily peaks.
At present, Obsidian has not officially confirmed nor denied Camilo's estimates, leaving the exact number of TOW2's units sold unknown.
So, what's your take on The Outer Worlds 2’s estimated performance? Do you agree with the analyst's numbers? Could the poor showing of TOW2 and Avowed mark the end of Obsidian as we know it, or will Grounded 2 and other projects it may or may not have in the works – cough-cough, New Vegas remake, cough-cough – be enough to keep the studio afloat? Tell us what you think in the comments!
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