Star Wars Outlaws premiered during Ubisoft Forward and it instantly became one of Ubisoft's biggest upcoming projects. Star Wars and Ubisoft fans both have their thoughts about the game, both good and bad, but don't let that sway your opinion just yet. Here's everything you need to know about Star Wars Outlaws.

What is Star Wars Outlaws

First revealed officially during the Xbox Games Showcase and then the Ubisoft Forward Livestream Event, Star Wars Outlaws is a story-driven action-adventure game that pans away from the battle between the Light and Dark sides of the force towards the underbelly of the Galaxy, putting players right at the center of the Outer Rim's criminal underworld. It's developed alongside Massive Entertainment and has been one of the big project Star Wars games being worked on by Ubisoft that we've been reporting on for a while now. It uses the Snowdrop game engine in development, the same engine used for games like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Starlink: Battle for Atlas, Tom Clancy's The Division, the upcoming Splinter Cell Remake, XDefiant, The Settlers: New Allies, and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.

Story

Star Wars Outlaws introduces fans to a new lead character: outlaw scoundrel Kay Vess. Vess works with her companion Nix as they “attempt one of the biggest heists the Outer Rim has ever seen,” which pretty much sets up the moral ambiguity that this game will allow players to play with that you don't usually get in a typical Star Wars game. Set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, players will get to live in the Wild West of the Galactic Empire as an outlaw that is neither here nor there when it comes to the bigger backdrop that's happening in the Star Wars universe at this time: the Rebellion.

After a job gone wrong, Kay finds herself as the galaxy's most wanted outlaw. Seeking to free herself from her bounty, Kay and Nix take on dangerous contracts and manage complex relationships with the various crime syndicates in the galaxy as they try to pull off a grand heist that will not only set her up for life but also free herself from the bounty that has been trailing her.

Gameplay

Star Wars Outlaws is advertised to be the “first-ever open-world Star Wars game,” which already gives it an enormous weight on its shoulders. Sadly, we don't really get to explore iconic locations from the film such as Coruscant, Dagobah, Kashyyk, Endor, or Mos Eisley since the game will be focusing more on mostly-unexplored areas in the canon. However, we get to explore some of the more exciting locations like Tatooine, Geonosis, Utapau, and Mandalore. We are promised bustling cities and distinct planets, but we haven't been told yet which planets will actually be part of the experience. Most likely, Massive will also introduce new planets to the lore of the series for us to explore and live in.

The game will feature combat with a blaster rifle as well as the use of tools and gadgets that are at your disposal. It will also have stealth mechanics that will let you crawl your way past violent encounters.

While currently not yet touched upon, Ubisoft's wording on how the game will allow players to take on “high-risk, high-reward” missions show that the game will also feature some sort of mission and reward system. Through these missions, players will be able to “steal valuable goods, infiltrate secret locations, and outwit enemies as one of the galaxy's most wanted.” Hopefully, we get meaningful side-quests instead of generic ones, as the Star Wars canon is filled to the brim of great stories to tell that it would be a crime if Massive doesn't take the opportunity to create nice scenarios out of this rich background. It does appear, however, that taking on contracts can affect the player's reputation and relationships with different factions in the game, which then introduces new and interesting interactions to the game world and adds substance and weight to the player's choices and actions.

Finally, the game will also allow players, to some degree, to pilot their ship called The Trailblazer. Dogfighting will be a feature in the game, allowing players to engage against Imperial spaceships as they try to evade capture. Massive says that players will be able to freely travel from land to space to explore, and outer space also offers various gameplay opportunities, such as traversal, exploration, and dog fights.

Star Wars Outlaws Release Date: TBA 2024

Star Wars Outlaws will have a release date of TBA 2024. The game is expected to come out on PC through the Ubisoft Store, as well as on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.