It's a great time to be a Star Wars fan. As several T.V. shows debut and grow on Disney Plus, event movies are set to make a comeback in the coming years, and Lucasfilm has extended the development of Star Wars video games to more big-name publishers than just EA. Hot on the heels of the excellent Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, we're now preparing for an ambitious romp through the galaxy's criminal underworld with Ubisoft Massive's first foray into George Lucas' eternal sci-fi universe.
This new open-world adventure isn't the only big-budget Star Wars game currently in development, as Disney aims to release at least one major title (alongside smaller ones) every year moving forward. At EA, Respawn Entertainment is staying in the Star Wars business with a sequel to Jedi: Survivor, a yet-to-be-revealed first-person shooter, and a strategy game co-developed with XCOM and Civilization veterans.
We can also look forward to Skydance Media's action-adventure project, Saber Interactive's Knights of the Old Republic remake, and Quantic Dream's branching adventure set in the High Republic era. Those are further out though, so let's look over everything we know about Star Wars Outlaws.
Star Wars Outlaws release date
Star Wars Outlaws is currently scheduled to release in 2024. However, Ubisoft and the developers at Massive Entertainment aren't committing to a more specific window yet. This comes as no surprise given Avatar: Frontier of Pandora (hitting on December 7) suffered a one-year delay from 2022 to late 2023.
Reports from sites such as Kotaku, who correctly predicted the 2024 launch target, also added fuel to the "possible delay" fire, with anonymous sources saying that Star Wars Outlaws could be easily pushed back to 2025. Internal buzz appears to be positive, but both Lucasfilm Games and Ubisoft want to land a blockbuster hit with this one.
Star Wars Outlaws platforms
Star Wars Outlaws, much like Massive Entertainment's Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, is a current-gen exclusive that aims to squeeze as much as possible out of the studio's own Snowdrop engine. As a result, it's launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (Windows).
Star Wars Outlaws trailers
While Star Wars Outlaws could potentially miss 2024 if development needs extra time, our initial look at the game was more than we could've asked for. It all started with an exciting CG trailer released on June 11, 2023. Watch it below:
The following day, June 12, 2023, we learned much more about the game and its main character thanks to a generous gameplay walkthrough that debuted during the Ubisoft Forward 2023 event. Check it out here:
Star Wars Outlaws plot & setting
Star Wars Outlaws is set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, which means this is yet another Star Wars game which takes place during the Galactic Civil War, but thankfully, we'll be deeper into the era this time around.
The Empire is still strong during this period of time, but the Rebel Alliance is putting some serious pressure on Emperor Palpatine's reign of evil. Meanwhile, the criminal syndicates are trying to make as much money as possible from the galaxy-wide chaos and rampant inequality. This is where Kay Vess (Humberly Gonzalez) comes in. She's a scoundrel "seeking freedom and the means to start a new life" along her companion Nix and the reprogrammed commando droid ND-5.
As teased in the gameplay demo we shared above, Star Wars Outlaws features a number of criminal groups and other factions which longtime Star Wars fans are familiar with, including the dangerous Pyke Syndicate and shady alien brokers. Likewise, the story will be taking Kay to renowned planets such as Tatooine, Cantonica, and Kijimi, plus all-new on-screen worlds like Akiva (featured in the Star Wars: Aftermath book trilogy) and Toshara.
Star Wars Outlaws genre & gameplay
While Star Wars Jedi: Survivor had some pretty impressive large areas that could be explored freely, Star Wars Outlaws is the first game of the franchise fully designed to replicate the modern open-world experience. Thanks to its current-gen nature (and the mighty power of SSDs), players will even be able to transition seamlessly from on-the-ground locations to outer space, where tense dogfights might happen from time to time.
Star Wars Outlaws largely plays like a traditional third-person action-adventure game, though you can see the influence of Massive's past projects, such as a strong focus on cover-based gunfights and gadgets. Of course, stealth is also important for a scoundrel like Kay, and cute little Nix can help her in such situations.
We'll learn more about Star Wars Outlaws' approach to its main story and secondary content in the coming months, but if the game is following in the footsteps of Assassin's Creed, The Division, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (among others), you can be one-hundred-percent sure that the planetary locations we'll be visiting are going to be chock-full of extra gigs and heavily guarded locations to steal from. Judging from the demo alone, the studio appears to have nailed the playfulness of the Star Wars setting, and we can't wait to meet more colorful characters and see how the galaxy reacts to Kay's antics.
If you're looking for good sci-fi video games to play until Star Wars Outlaws is ready to go, our rankings of the finest Alien, Marvel, DC, Warhammer 40K, and, of course, Star Wars games out there will give you more than you asked for.
Looking for more general picks? We recommend taking a look at the best space exploration, space settlement, and space horror titles available right now.
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