Move over The Last of Us, now The Outer Worlds gets to be the poster child for 'did we really need it' remasters

The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition
(Image credit: Obsidian/Private Division)

The Last of Us Part 1 was a complete visual remake of the original game, and coming just nine years after the PS3 release, even series fans were quick to question whether they wanted to buy it over again. Now how would you feel about buying a much less substantial remaster of a 2019 game?

The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition was announced earlier today ahead of its launch on March 7. This edition of Obsidian's 2019 satirical sci-fi RPG will feature enhanced visuals for next-gen consoles and PC, an increased level cap, and all the previously-released DLC. Even if you already own the original game and DLC, you'll have to spend $10 for the upgrade, and now I'm scratching my head over who, exactly, this release is for.

The Outer Worlds is a fine enough game and I'm happy to see it get an update, but there's a precedent - and I think now an expectation - for next-gen upgrades to be freebies there to generate goodwill for the franchise. Games like Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima have gotten away with charging for similar upgrades, but both those games also featured substantial new content to sweeten the deal. Even The Last of Us Part 1 might've hewed closely to the original, but at least it was a whole new game from a technical perspective.

While Obsidian was bought out by Microsoft prior to the release of The Outer Worlds, both the original game and the Spacer's Choice Edition are published by Private Division, a subsidiary of Take-Two. The Outer Worlds 2 is due out under the Xbox banner, uh… eventually.

For more upcoming Xbox Series X games, you know where to click.

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

Read more
The Last of Us 2
Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann knows you're tired of remakes and remasters, but anyway, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is coming to PC next year
The Last of Us 2
"Single-player games now cost so much" which is why you need to buy remasters so PlayStation can "keep investing in great new games" according to ex-Sony president
The Hunter and allies look on at a fiery scene in Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds will give you one free character edit, which is great for Fashion Hunters, but frustrating for everyone who's sick of paywalled customization
Avowed screenshot showing two companions assisting in combat
Avowed director confirms the game follows The Outer Worlds' lead to skip New Game Plus, but DLC is still a "maybe"
Sony may never give us Days Gone 2, but it did just announce Days Gone Remastered is coming to PS5 with three new modes: Horde, Permadeath, and Speedrun
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak
20 years later, the first Trails JRPG is getting a remake because its developer doesn't know where to tell newcomers to start
Latest in RPG
The Witcher 3 lead says "not many games" were trying to match the RPG back in 2015, and that meant "there was a risk" to making it in the first place
The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Witcher 3 dev says his new vampire RPG Blood of Dawnwalker wants to challenge genre conventions, but only if "we're changing them to actually achieve some goal"
The Blood of Dawnwalker: A screenshot of the vampire Brencis holding up a crown during the trailer for the upcoming game.
The Witcher 3 devs created a Jekyll & Hyde-style character for their new vampire RPG "because nobody yet has done that"
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
The Witcher 4 devs explain how Ciri's fighting style will differ from Geralt's: "He's nimble, but he feels like a block...she's liquid"
Kai and Giatta battle Xaurip in Avowed
I get why Obsidian doesn't like The Elder Scrolls comparisons, but Avowed is the first RPG to have its hooks in me this deep since Skyrim took over my life 14 years ago
Mass Effect 3
BioWare lead proves he's onto us while celebrating Mass Effect 3's birthday, clarifying that's all he's doing so that "nobody can say I purposefully teased them"
Latest in News
The Witcher 3 lead says "not many games" were trying to match the RPG back in 2015, and that meant "there was a risk" to making it in the first place
The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Witcher 3 dev says his new vampire RPG Blood of Dawnwalker wants to challenge genre conventions, but only if "we're changing them to actually achieve some goal"
Daredevil recap: The Defenders
Marvel fans are discussing which of the Netflix series characters would have survived the Blip
A misty, forested mountainside in Prologue: Go Wayback!
PUBG creator's wilderness survival game actually draws inspiration from an unexpected place - a whole raft of zombie games like DayZ, Project Zomboid, and Left 4 Dead
The Blood of Dawnwalker: A screenshot of the vampire Brencis holding up a crown during the trailer for the upcoming game.
The Witcher 3 devs created a Jekyll & Hyde-style character for their new vampire RPG "because nobody yet has done that"
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil fans are wondering if Born Again season 2 will set up a darker comic book arc for Matt Murdock