The Outer Worlds Sells 2 Million Copies, As Take-Two Questions The Subscription Model

Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian’s new RPG, The Outer Worlds, has sold more than 2 million copies, parent publisher Take-Two announced during an earnings call this week.

The Outer Worlds also launched as a free game for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, but the 2 million sales figures is presumably referring to full-game sales.

On the subject of subscription services like Xbox Game Pass, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said it’s an ongoing conversation at the company regarding how much the company will support programs like Xbox Game Pass and others. He said that, as a general rule, Take-Two simply wants to release games where the consumer is, and that could include subscription libraries.

At the same time, Zelnick said subscription services might be better suited for older titles as a way to give them a second lease on life. “We think subscription offerings are probably better suited to catalog but we’re willing to take experimental chances when it makes sense. It’s early days for all these platforms,” he said.

Take-Two’s biggest game, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, launched on Xbox Game Pass in January. The game recently crossed 120 million in sales, and it’s reaching even more players now that it’s free with Game Pass.

The Outer Worlds is a unique game from a development and publishing perspective. The title was announced in 2017 as one of the first titles to be published by Take-Two’s indie label, Private Division. In November 2018, Microsoft acquired Obsidian, but due to the previous arrangement, Private Division remained attached as publisher of The Outer Worlds.

Going forward, however, Microsoft will seemingly publish the Outer Worlds franchise if there are indeed any sequels or franchise extensions. Microsoft’s Matt Booty said he sees The Outer Worlds as an “enduring franchise” for Microsoft, so you can expect more instalments.

In other news about The Outer Worlds, Private Division has delayed the Nintendo Switch version due to the Coronavirus outbreak. The port is being developed by Virtuos, which is headquartered in Singapore and has offices across different cities in China. Private Division has also confirmed that it will release the game on a physical cartridge as well as digitally.