The Star Wars galaxy that’s far, far away is replete with stories, thanks to the creative brains on planet Earth. The Star Wars mythos has ever been expanding, with stories filling the major mediums like films, TV shows, books, and video games. Speaking of video games, there have been many notable Star Wars games in the past, and more are in the pipeline, like Star Wars: Eclipse and a few projects whose names have not been finalized. One such project was recently revealed by French game developer and publisher Ubisoft during the Summer Game Fest 2023. This one is called Star Wars Outlaws.
Star Wars Outlaws has the distinction of being the first ever open-world Star Wars game. The game got a world premiere trailer first, followed soon by a gameplay reveal trailer. I’m sure every Star Wars fan out there would be itching to know what new adventures await them in Outlaws, so without further ado, let me give you the lowdown on what we know so far about the game.
Star Wars Outlaws: Developer and Publisher
Star Wars Outlaws is the fruit of the combined efforts put in by Swedish game developer and Ubisoft subsidiary Massive Entertainment, in collaboration with multiple global Ubisoft studios that include Ubisoft Annecy, Bucharest, Chengdu, Milan, Montpellier, Paris, Shanghai, and Toronto. And, of course, LucasFilm Games is a partner since it holds all the rights to Star Wars games. Ubisoft is publishing the game.
Star Wars Outlaws: The Time Period
Star Wars Outlaws is set during the time period between Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, which are the fifth and sixth films in chronological order and part of the original Star Wars trilogy.
Star Wars Outlaws: Characters
Kay Vess is revealed as the main protagonist, and if you like Han Solo, she, like him, also falls in the unofficial ‘scoundrel’ class. This means that you have a knack for attracting interesting and, at the same time, dangerous situations. You will have a cute and helpful companion called Vix and also “a trench coat-wearing BX-commando droid” called ND-5 that watches your back.
Star Wars Outlaws: Story
The game features an “original scoundrel story”. While the Galactic Empire is sparing no effort in trying to wipe out the Rebel Alliance, Kay is planning to execute “one of the biggest heists” in the Outer Rim. The world premiere trailer shows Kay and Vix on the run from some bounty hunters. In her own words, she has been held back her whole life, and she just needs “that chance to finally be free.” Jaylen, who is someone she knows, comes with a mission for her, a promise of the possibility that she wants at all costs, but would she be able to pull off what he asks of her? Here is the world premiere trailer of the game.
Star Wars Outlaws: What You Get To Do
It’s a wide, wide world (erm, galaxy) where even rebellions happen on a planetary system scale. Since it is an open-world game, you get to explore a whole new set of planets, along with the iconic ones. Each one comes with its own set of challenges. Since, as Kay, you are part of the galactic underworld and your career indicates that you are a risk-taking adventuress who would not stop before she gets her freedom and starts a new life, you would have to rely on your fighting, thievery, and quick-thinking skills to become the true outlaw.
Travel fast with speeders, use your blaster, employ stealth, infiltrate locations, and leverage your sharp thinking into distracting opponents. Along with Nix, you will also have help with some gadgets. Kay has her own ship, called the Trailblazer, and there are dogfights with TIE fighters coming. Check out the official gameplay walkthrough trailer which Ubisoft dropped recently.
Star Wars Outlaws: How It Is Different From The Star Wars Jedi Games
First off, Kay is a girl, so there’s the first obvious distinction. Next, Cal is a Jedi, Kay is not. Cal uses lightsabers frequently, and we are not sure if Kay would even get to use one. Basically, this looks like an entirely different game than the ones we’re used to. It doesn’t look like it’ll feature Soulslike combat, either. In short, we’ll just have to wait to find out.
Star Wars Outlaws: Platforms and Release Date
Star Wars Outlaws will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (via Ubisoft Connect). The game is expected to arrive next year, i.e., 2024.
Summing up
2024 looks like it’s going to be quite the year, considering the various game announcements that we’ve seen so far at the Summer Game Fest. With Star Wars Outlaws bringing the open-world style to a franchise that’s been knee-deep in the Soulslike era of late, how are things going to change for the franchise’s overall direction? Only time will tell. However, all we here at Sparkian can say is that we can’t wait to play Star Wars Outlaws!
