What is the Star Wars Outlaws release date? Ubisoft is dipping its toe into the galaxy far, far away, and recently gave us a glimpse of everything we can expect from its upcoming Star Wars game. Massive Entertainment, the team behind The Division series and the Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora game, has been working on Star Wars Outlaws since 2021.
In classic Ubisoft style, Star Wars Outlaws will be an open-world game with action-adventure elements and a single-player experience. The story itself takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, centering around Kay Vess and her companion, Nix, as they take on a huge heist in the galaxy.
Star Wars Outlaws release date
The Star Wars Outlaws release date is Friday, August 30, 2024. It will be available on PC via Ubisoft Connect and Epic Games Store, as well as Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
Those who preorder Star Wars Outlaws will get the Kessel Runner bonus pack. The Ultimate edition includes the Rogue Infiltrator and Sabacc Shark bundles with cosmetics for your ship. If you pick up either the Gold or Ultimate editions, you’ll also get the season pass and can play the game three days earlier. The Star Wars Outlaws early access begins on Tuesday, August 27, 2024.
News of the Star Wars Outlaws release was leaked by Ubisoft Japan’s YouTube premiere page (via the Gematsu Twitter/X account), with a story trailer released later the same day confirming the date. The game’s tentative release date appeared during the Xbox Showcase, but sources close to Kotaku said Ubisoft wanted to release Star Wars Outlaws during the current fiscal year. A Disney Park blog post initially said the release date would be late 2024, but this has since changed to just 2024 following a correction from Ubisoft.
Star Wars Outlaws trailers
There are several Star Wars Outlaws trailers out so far. These include a story trailer that helps us get to know heroes Kay Vess and Nix better, as well as the Ubisoft Forward 2024 game overview trailer that reveals more about the duo’s place in the galaxy. As summarized in the story trailer, Kay is on the run from a syndicate group known as Zerek Besh because she crossed their boss, Sliro. However, she is given a golden opportunity to earn her freedom, but only if she can swipe his fortune.
With the help of some companions, including ND-5, a suave android with a killer coat and a sultry voice (that the interest apparently has the hots for), and the aforementioned little critter Nix, who can be a useful ally in combat and exploring the world. Other companions briefly appear in the story trailer during a monologue, though we don’t know if they join Kay’s crew.
We also meet some familiar faces from the world of scum and villainy, namely Jabba the Hut in all his blubbery slug-like glory. Kay will also be pursued the entire time by a bounty hunter sent by Sliro to put an end to her adventures. While we don’t know her name, she remarks that Kay is involved in something bigger, hinting at some looming treachery.
The Ubi Forward trailer, meanwhile, lays out some of the stunning locations you’ll be able to explore, as well as some of the dirty work you’ll get up to while navigating Outlaws’ underworld. It doesn’t take long to see a familiar face, as Kay looks to try her gambling hand against Lando Calrissian.
We also get a flavor of Kay and Nix’s background, and it transpires the pair have been partners in crime since childhood. It also turns out that Nix is pretty good at playing dead to create an adorable distraction – just one of the myriad ways you’ll seemingly be able to deploy them as a decoy.
The trailer further showcases Kay’s affiliation with Jabba, though Outlaws offers you freedom over which syndicates you want to buddy up with or double-cross. Though Kay has a good reputation with the Hutt Cartel in the trailer, the option to turn her back on them is ever-present. We can imagine it’s going to be pretty tricky keeping all of Outlaws’ factions happy, though we’re also eager to see what happens if we get on the bad side of all of them.
Of course, it’s not only the syndicates you’ll have to keep an eye out for, as Outlaws operates a ‘Wanted’ system similar to GTA 5. If you become too notorious for your own good, then the Empire itself will hunt you down. Unlike Rockstar’s game, however, you’ll be running from AT-STs and TIE fighters, rather than cop cars and helicopters.
Tying up the trailer, we once again get a peak at the various planets you’ll get to explore, including “the lush jungle world of Akiva, the ancient city of Kijimi, [and] the dangerous savannah moon of Toshara,” alongside Tatooine and Cantonica.
Star Wars Outlaws gameplay
Star Wars Outlaws takes place in a time of civil unrest, where bandits are thriving. Enter Kay Vess and her furry sidekick, Nix. From the gameplay reveal, we can see Kay using stealth mechanics to creep around a guarded facility. She punches one guard in the face, but as things heat up, Kay can send out Nix to attack cards or interact with controls.
It seems like there will be few ways to approach missions, but if you’re spotted and enemies are alerted, Kay can whip out her blaster pistol and shoot enemies, running and jumping over obstacles and hiding behind blockades.
When a guard with a shield attacks, Kay can change her gun’s mode to stun or focus on disarming it before using the butt of her gun or meleeing the enemy. Nix can also be used to fetch different weapons in combat and turn the tide in a fight if you’re under pressure.
Aside from combat, as highlighted earlier in this guide, Outlaws has its own ‘wanted’ system. Here, this is showcased by your choice to bribe or not bribe somebody after an exchange, as well as a reputation among factions – a staple of classic RPGs – which can drastically change how a mission will work.
Lead systems designer Matthieu Delisle expands on this in an article on Game Informer, explaining that “If you have a bad reputation with the syndicates, they won’t let you in. You can sneak in, but if you get caught, you will be kicked out. However, if you have a good reputation once you’ve worked good rep with the Pyke Syndicate, for example, you’ll be able to freely go in and then you can get access to a bunch of opportunities.”
Ubi dropped another ten-minute gameplay display at its 2024 Ubi Forward event. The showcase, led by game director Mathias Karlson, opens up with details on the ‘Experts’ system which serves as the core way for Kay to learn new skills to help her on her journey. After tracking down these elusive characters using various bits of intel, Kay can pick up a new trick of the trade. But there’s more…
Before The Gunslinger is selected, we can see Kay’s already learned Cantina Brawling (standard melee attacks) and Lockpicking (self-explanatory) from Bram, The Bartender – presumably this is the first expert you meet at the beginning of the game. She can also learn Fast-Talk, which grants her the ability to distract alerted enemies briefly from him. As such, you can also learn new skills from already-found experts, though this requires certain prerequisites. For Fast-Talk, Kay needs to take down three distracted enemies and defeat five foes with melee attacks.
During her hunt for The Gunslinger, Kay traverses the stars in search of the mysterious Gunslinger. En route, she partakes in a dogfight to help out a Pyke freighter, which nets her some bonus rep with the Pyke syndicate. After finally landing in Mos Eisley, Kay and Nix get straight to work hunting down their mark. Some sleuthing and a quick shootout later, we have a name – Quint. Naturally, rocking up at the sheriff’s joint and asking nicely isn’t going to get you very far in Outlaws, and judging by the end of the trailer you’ll have to earn her favor by dealing with some Hutt goons before she’ll teach you.
By tying skills and progression to Outlaws’ story, Ubi’s synthesized a very on-theme system indeed. In Outlaws, you can’t simply get stronger by earning XP – you have to become an active participant in its galaxy and engage with side content. That is unless you want to forego the optional upgrades to speedrun your playthrough – it’s not just the Falcon that can make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs…
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