Star Wars Outlaws has a heist in the works, but this one doesn’t have Han Solo and Chewie behind it. Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment announced Outlaws in June and revealed it was an open-world adventure spanning multiple planets, hyper-jumping through seedy underworld systems and dealings culminating in a big job.
As Outlaws moves away from the intergalactic ferryman we all know, Massive’s take keeps things familiar with another eccentric duo, Kay Vess and Nix. The pair are brand new to Star Wars, and tracking the details of each Star Wars game in the works becomes as complicated as its extended universe and canon. To guide you, here’s everything we know about Star Wars Outlaws, including details about Kay, Nix, and her new moon setting, Toshara.
What is the release date of Star Wars Outlaws?
Star Wars Outlaws will be released in 2024. That’s as specific as Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment were set to get it during the game’s summer of 2023, but other reports narrow that window further.
According to Kotaku, “Project Helix”, the codename for Star Wars Outlaws, is slated for March 2024 – so it drops during this fiscal year. It’s an ambitious project, and unsurprisingly, the report notes that sources are not confident in this timeline and predict that it will instead launch between April 2024 and March 2025.
As for platforms, Star Wars Outlaws will release on PC without any official word on third-party storefronts like Steam or the Epic Games Store. In the past, Ubisoft has prioritized its own launcher, Ubisoft Connect, for PC versions.
Here is the Star Wars Outlaws trailer
Long ago in a galaxy far, far away… Ubisoft has unveiled its open-world Star Wars action-adventure game from developer Massive Entertainment featuring battles against the Empire and, more importantly, the Pyke Syndicate. In fact, the debut was a bit more recent at the Microsoft Games Showcase on June 11, 2023, but it looks like we’ve been dreaming of something invoking the same tone and scale for millennia.
In 2021, Lucasfilm Games announced several ongoing Star Wars projects with multiple studios and publishers. This is our first look at Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws, but other space games include Respawn’s Jedi series and a storytelling adventure from Amy Hennig.
Is Star Wars Outlaws an open world?
Yes, Star Wars Outlaws is an open-world game. This point is worth hammering home, as creative director Julian Gerighty said. IGN“This is the first-ever open-world Star Wars experience. This is the villainous adventure.”
Gerighty described Outlaws as the Star Wars journey of childhood dreams. The studio thought about how a project of this scale would also serve as an ideal vehicle for showcasing Star Wars core merchandise. He noted that players can navigate through outlaws using iconic speeders and spaceships, or resort to a good ol’ hoofin. The game also includes different deep space planets, systems and landscapes.
What is the rest of Star Wars Outlaws gameplay like?
We’ve established that you’ll play freely in a sprawling sandbox, but early gameplay demos reveal how you’ll navigate the world of Outlaws. Kay and Nix will score team obstacles, showing off their unique skills in firefights and stealth missions. In this first look, we see Kay brandishing her blaster after blowing her cover as Nix sneaks up to lead the way and flee encounters that get too hot.
Ubisoft’s preview images so far confirm several gameplay specifics, including:
- Third person oscillating between shooting and stealth
- Nix is an ally in battles to solve puzzles and uncover secrets
- Kay’s blaster will have upgradable mods that change tactical styles
- Kay also has abilities and other equipment
- Vehicles like speeders and starships
- Air battles in space and hyperjump journeys
- Choices that dictate Kay’s position in the world
- A researched system that determines the Empire’s aggression towards Kay
- Heists that reward credits and items
- Focus on discovery and exploration aims to provide “distinct profiles” for each location
You’ll need to earn Credits to stay afloat in the cold, dark universe, and that’s largely how Kay’s character reminds Han. It will keep the cash flowing from mission to mission, but as an open-world adventure, the pacing is up to the player. The dev-guided demo even highlights how player choices are a crucial part of how your life as Kay looks, dictating the value of rewards and how different factions view it.
Where does Star Wars Outlaws fit into the timeline?
Narrative director Navid Khavari has confirmed that Star Wars Outlaws takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. This was when the Empire was at its strongest.
What is the story and setting of Star Wars Outlaws?
Star Wars Outlaws begins in the Imperial Age as the Empire’s grip is felt across the galaxy. The turmoil between the Sith regime and the rebels allows smaller-scale syndicates to take power elsewhere and take control of their own corners of the underworld.
The story follows a young thief, Kay Vess, and her lizard-like companion, Nix, as they go on burglaries. With a bounty on her head, Kay pursues her freedom in a bid to risk it all and start a new life.
Massive Entertainment didn’t go into all the details of Kay’s situation, but we do know that she’s teaming up with a droid, ND-5, as she takes on a risky job the studio describes as “the opportunity of a lifetime”. The world premiere features another character, Jaylen, who offers Kay a “dangerous and risky” job that ensures she “never has to look over her shoulder again.”
As for confirmed locations, Massive’s first footage tours Tosharaa moon developed in collaboration with Lucasfilm, and its capital, Mirogana. She also drives a Speeder to Juanta’s Hopea colony on the same moon.
Who is Kay Vess?
Kay is a wannabe scoundrel with a bounty on her head who leans into life as a thief as the big rewards enchant her, though her underworld heists get riskier as she targets the most dangerous factions. of the galaxy. In the gameplay demo, she retrieves a “priceless sort of mollusk-like object from a Pyke Syndicate lieutenant” while on Toshara, and the events of the Outlaws escalate from there.
In a Introducing Kay, Ubisoft actor Humberly González describes her character as fearless, charming, and someone who “has to survive because no one else is going to save her unless it’s her.” Kay’s only friend seems to be Nix, an exuberant creature closer to family than just a pet.
Who is Nix?
We left the Ewoks and the Porgs; Star Wars’ new resident cute patootie is Nix. It’s a Merqaal, a rare creature from an unknown planet. Khavari describes him as “very curious” and “a bit stubborn”, but he is still incredibly loyal to Kay. So far, Nix looks like a clumsy little guy who makes lots of snoring noises and loves a good chew toy – he’s a pug in-universe.
As a companion, Outlaws allows the player to control Nix as an extension of Kay. He’s a useful gremlin with simple goals, like pressing distant buttons, uncovering secrets, and surprise attacks.
Who else is in Star Wars Outlaws?
From the first glances at Outlaws, there are obvious major players like the Empire. Massive also confirmed that it will introduce a new syndicate, the Ashiga clan, and involve other members of the series, such as the pike And Hutts.
Other Star Wars stories about putting together a ragtag team for a major heist, like Rogue One or Solo, lead us to believe that newcomers ND-5 And Jaylen will stay a while. In the developer walkthrough, Massive says that ND-5 is a battle droid that was built by the Separatists and fought in the Clone Wars. In Outlaws, he came to life in the underworld and joined her for the big heist.