Star Wars Outlaws gameplay revealed in explosive trailer

Ubisoft Massive shows off its crime-focused open-world game
Star Wars Outlaws gameplay revealed in explosive trailer
Star Wars Outlaws gameplay revealed in explosive trailer /

Ubisoft revealed Star Wars Outlaws during the Xbox Games Showcase on June 11, 2023, with a cinematic trailer. Intrigued gamers didn’t have to be overly patient before seeing some gameplay of what Ubisoft Massive describes as “the first-ever open-world Star Wars game” with a video containing exactly that being released during Ubisoft Forward a day later.

Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi – that’s 3 to 4 ABY for those of you familiar with the in-universe chronology – Star Wars Outlaws follows the story of Kay Vess and her adorable companion Nix. She’s a clever scoundrel seeking the financial independence to begin a new life away from the galactic underworld, which means that she’s up for some high-risk enterprises that might run her afoul with the galaxy’s biggest crime syndicates like the Pykes, Black Sun, and the Hutts. The Empire, of course, is still around at this time and is a threat looming around every corner.

The Star Wars Outlaws gameplay reveal trailer shows off some explosive action as well as a more sneaky bit, giving us a taste of what’s going to be possible in this game set in a galaxy far, far away. You can check it out for yourself below:

Kay can command Nix to take down enemies quietly or fetch items. There is stealth-based gameplay, cover plays a huge role during shoot-outs, and you can have exciting speeder chases. There seems to be a fair bit of decision-making as well with the video showing Kay refusing to bribe an imperial official and getting herself into trouble. Presumably, she could have made her life easier by simply agreeing to pay a bribe. The transition between atmospheric flight and space seems to be seamless.

Ubisoft Massive is mostly known for making The Division, an open-world third-person shooter with lots of looting, and it seems like Outlaws is definitely inheriting some characteristics from Massive’s previous work. However, the game also seems like it’s a good deal more story-driven. The space western aesthetics and atmosphere certainly fit right into the setting and fans of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated show will be happy to spot a reprogrammed Separatist commando droid called ND-5 as one of Kay’s companions in a nice connection of the eras.

Star Wars Outlaws does not have a release date yet, but is planned to be launched some time in 2024 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Ubisoft only lists a Ubisoft Connect launch for the PC version right now and the game is nowhere to be found on Steam, so this might be a timed exclusive release on Ubisoft’s own platform.


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Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg