Microsoft Responds to The Outer Worlds 'Free' Upgrade Confusion

The Outer Worlds developer, Obsidian, has apologized for any "confusion" after players complained that the studio reneged on a prior update stating that anyone with the base game in their libraries before May 27 could upgrade to the Spacer's Choice Edition for free. At the beginning of the month, seven years after it launched — and almost six months after its sequel was released — The Outer Worlds developer Obsidian confirmed it would "be pushing a couple of updates to The Outer Worlds" — the first since June 2023 — before revealing that, from May 27, the base game edition of The Outer Worlds would be delisted, leaving just the Spacer's Choice Edition. The team was quick to assure players that while this wouldn't impact anyone who already owned the base edition, it did mean that anyone looking to pick up the game on current-gen systems after May 27 will only get the newer edition. To sweeten the deal, though, those with the vanilla game on PC (Steam, GOG, or EGS), PS5, or Xbox Series X/S could upgrade to the Spacer's Choice Edition for free between now and May 27. The offer was also extended to legacy systems, although to upgrade to the Spacer’s Choice Edition from the base game on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, you will need to own the base game and both DLCs for The Outer Worlds. On the day the offer was supposed to go live, however, Twitterer/Xer Dominruro01 called out Obsidian publicly, writing "in the statement you posted on April 30, it said that if you only had the base game before today, they would give you the Spacers Choice version, and I bought it on May 13, and now it's asking me for the DLCs. I bought the digital PS4 version on PS5." Another player confirmed the same thing happened on Xbox, too. Responding to the query, Obsidian wrote on Twitter/X: "Apologies for the confusion. Due to unforeseen platform limitations, Xbox One and PS4 digital owners will need to own both DLCs to be eligible for the upgrade. Please feel free to reach out to our support team for additional assistance." "This is considered a bait & switch in the U.S. and is absolutely illegal. But let’s be real, accountability doesn’t exist anymore," commented one unhappy player on a thread entitled "Obsidian lied about the free upgrade for The Outer Worlds." It has generated hundreds of comments and over two and a half thousand upvotes. "That is a class action just hanging off the tree," opined someone else. In a statement to IGN, a Microsoft spokesperson said: "The Outer Worlds Spacer’s Choice Edition upgrade was intended to say 'thanks' to anyone who purchased The Outer Worlds base game by providing them a free upgrade to the newly improved version. However, due to various entitlement restrictions and backend issues, we weren’t able to provide this as smoothly as we wished and our players are, rightfully, upset. "If you purchased the base game on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 between 4/30 and 5/27, or have any issues with the upgrade, please contact our support team and we’ll work with you to make it right. Sorry again for the frustration around this." Furthermore, the upgrade will "continue to be free to PC players if they own the delisted base game." Due to how entitlements work on the consoles, however, digital owners on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will need to own the base game and the DLCs or the expansion pass to be eligible for the upgrade moving forward." Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

May 29, 2026 - 18:38

Microsoft Responds to The Outer Worlds 'Free' Upgrade Confusion

The Outer Worlds developer, Obsidian, has apologized for any "confusion" after players complained that the studio reneged on a prior update stating that anyone with the base game in their libraries before May 27 could upgrade to the Spacer's Choice Edition for free.

At the beginning of the month, seven years after it launched — and almost six months after its sequel was released — The Outer Worlds developer Obsidian confirmed it would "be pushing a couple of updates to The Outer Worlds" — the first since June 2023 — before revealing that, from May 27, the base game edition of The Outer Worlds would be delisted, leaving just the Spacer's Choice Edition.

The team was quick to assure players that while this wouldn't impact anyone who already owned the base edition, it did mean that anyone looking to pick up the game on current-gen systems after May 27 will only get the newer edition. To sweeten the deal, though, those with the vanilla game on PC (Steam, GOG, or EGS), PS5, or Xbox Series X/S could upgrade to the Spacer's Choice Edition for free between now and May 27. The offer was also extended to legacy systems, although to upgrade to the Spacer’s Choice Edition from the base game on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, you will need to own the base game and both DLCs for The Outer Worlds.

On the day the offer was supposed to go live, however, Twitterer/Xer Dominruro01 called out Obsidian publicly, writing "in the statement you posted on April 30, it said that if you only had the base game before today, they would give you the Spacers Choice version, and I bought it on May 13, and now it's asking me for the DLCs. I bought the digital PS4 version on PS5." Another player confirmed the same thing happened on Xbox, too.

Responding to the query, Obsidian wrote on Twitter/X: "Apologies for the confusion. Due to unforeseen platform limitations, Xbox One and PS4 digital owners will need to own both DLCs to be eligible for the upgrade. Please feel free to reach out to our support team for additional assistance."

"This is considered a bait & switch in the U.S. and is absolutely illegal. But let’s be real, accountability doesn’t exist anymore," commented one unhappy player on a thread entitled "Obsidian lied about the free upgrade for The Outer Worlds." It has generated hundreds of comments and over two and a half thousand upvotes.

"That is a class action just hanging off the tree," opined someone else.

In a statement to IGN, a Microsoft spokesperson said: "The Outer Worlds Spacer’s Choice Edition upgrade was intended to say 'thanks' to anyone who purchased The Outer Worlds base game by providing them a free upgrade to the newly improved version. However, due to various entitlement restrictions and backend issues, we weren’t able to provide this as smoothly as we wished and our players are, rightfully, upset.

"If you purchased the base game on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 between 4/30 and 5/27, or have any issues with the upgrade, please contact our support team and we’ll work with you to make it right. Sorry again for the frustration around this."

Furthermore, the upgrade will "continue to be free to PC players if they own the delisted base game." Due to how entitlements work on the consoles, however, digital owners on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will need to own the base game and the DLCs or the expansion pass to be eligible for the upgrade moving forward."

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

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