A Game About Corporate Greed Just Pulled a Bait and Switch

2,500 upvotes and hundreds of angry comments on The Outer Worlds subreddit. That's what Obsidian woke up to after its promised free upgrade to The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition fell apart for console players on May 27.

The timeline is straightforward and damning. On April 30, Obsidian announced it would delist the base version of The Outer Worlds on platforms where the Spacer's Choice Edition exists. To soften the blow, anyone who had the base game in their digital library before May 27 would receive the remastered Spacer's Choice Edition for free. The studio's exact words: "If you have at least the base edition of The Outer Worlds in your digital library before May 27th, you will be receiving the Spacer's Choice Edition free. That's right, free!" Several players bought the game specifically on the strength of that promise. When May 27 arrived, Xbox One and PS4 digital owners discovered they now needed to own both DLC expansions, Peril on Gorgon and Murder on Eridanos, to qualify. No prior warning. No updated messaging. Just a changed deal.

One player, Dominruro01, called Obsidian out publicly, explaining they'd bought the digital PS4 version on PS5 on May 13 and were now being told they needed the DLCs. Another confirmed the same thing on Xbox. Obsidian Support initially responded by citing "unforeseen platform limitations" on both PlayStation and Xbox as the reason. PC players, meanwhile, only get the upgrade if they own the delisted base game, which still works as originally promised.

"Rightfully, Upset"

In a statement provided to IGN, a Microsoft spokesperson acknowledged the mess: "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." The statement asks anyone who purchased the base game between April 30 and May 27, or who has "any issues with the upgrade," to contact Obsidian's support team. The Expansion Pass currently costs $14.99 on the PlayStation Store for those who don't want to wait.

I believe Obsidian when they say this wasn't intentional. Platform entitlement systems are arcane, and it's plausible that nobody tested whether a base-game-only license on PS4 or Xbox One could trigger a Spacer's Choice Edition entitlement on PS5 or Series X. But that's exactly the kind of thing you verify before making a public promise in bold lettering. You don't announce "That's right, free!" And then quietly change the terms on launch day. The fact that PC works fine while consoles don't suggests this was a technical oversight, not malice. It's still a failure of communication, and are brutal for a studio whose flagship RPG is literally about corporations screwing over the little guy.

As one Reddit commenter put it: "Obsidian made a game where greedy corporations that cheat people are ridiculed. And then they do the same." The OpenCritic Reviews page for The Outer Worlds still shows an 83 average and 83% recommendation rate, a reminder that this is a well-liked game with a loyal fanbase that deserved better than a botched rollout. Obsidian says it will "make it right" on a case-by-case basis through support tickets, but the standing policy going forward is clear: console owners need the base game plus both DLCs. The free upgrade they advertised a month ago no longer exists for base-game-only owners on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.