Highlights
- Star Wars Outlaws promises open-world exploration, fast-paced action, and seamless transitions between ground and space gameplay.
- Fans are excited about the smuggler protagonist Kay Vess and the chance for a criminal underworld Star Wars story.
- Controversy surrounds the game’s expensive special editions, with higher-priced versions offering exclusive day-one content in the Season Pass.
After its announcement and quick gameplay reveal follow-up in June of last year, many fans became tentatively excited about Star Wars Outlaws. Being marketed as the first truly open-world Star Wars game, Outlaws is set to feature large explorable planets, seamless ground-to-space transitions, and all the blasting fans would expect from a game set during the height of the Galactic Empire’s reign. There’s a lot of promise behind Star Wars Outlaws, and the most recent trailer only made this more evident.
About a week ago, Ubisoft released a story trailer for Star Wars Outlaws, giving fans a better look at smuggler protagonist Kay Vess and her mission to pull off the galaxy’s greatest heist. Generally speaking, this trailer only served to fuel fans’ excitement even more, with the game looking like it could finally deliver the criminal underworld Star Wars story fans have wanted for years now. But this most recent Star Wars Outlaws trailer wasn’t without its moments of controversy, and one valid point of criticism looks like it might be sticking around for the long term.
Star Wars Outlaws is Treading Dangerous Waters with Han Solo
With the beloved scoundrel Han Solo having now appeared in two trailers for the upcoming Star Wars Outlaws, he could be more than just a cameo.
Star Wars Outlaws’ Recent Controversy Explained
Star Wars Outlaws Has Some Expensive Special Editions
Coming right at the end of Star Wars Outlaws‘ story trailer, Ubisoft announced three separate editions of the anticipated game. The first of these is the classic Standard Edition of the game, coming in at an already-pricey $70. Following the release of last year’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Ubisoft has been very clear that all of its major AAA releases will now be priced at $70, but while this might not come as a shock to many, it’s still a tough pill to swallow for many gamers still not quite ready for that across-the-board price hike.
Pre-ordering any edition of
Star Wars Outlaws
will give the player access to the Kessel Runner Bonus Pack, which gives them Millennium Falcon-themed cosmetics for the Trailblazer ship and Kay Vess’ speeder.
The next edition up is Star Wars Outlaws‘ Gold Edition, which comes at a whopping $110. A whole $40 more than the standard edition, the only difference between the standard and Gold is that the latter comes with a Season Pass. Though the contents of Star Wars Outlaws‘ Season Pass haven’t been confirmed, it’s stated that it’s going to include two story pack DLCs. This Season Pass also grants players access to the Kessel Runner cosmetics for Kay and her adorable companion Nix, letting them dress up as Han Solo and Chewbacca respectively.
For an eye-watering $130, fans can get themselves Star Wars Outlaws‘ Ultimate Edition, a digital-only version of the game that comes with all of the content mentioned so far, as well as a digital art book, two more cosmetic packs based on iconic Star Wars scoundrels, and three-day early access to the game. These types of special editions are nothing new to the gaming world, but what sets Star Wars Outlaws apart in the worst way is that it’s locking day-one content behind a paywall.
Star Wars Outlaws’ Season Pass Is Causing a Stir
The biggest controversy surrounding Star Wars Outlaws‘ multiple editions – aside from their lofty price tags – is that the higher-price editions of the game are getting an exclusive mission on day one. As part of Star Wars Outlaws‘ Season Pass, players will get exclusive access to the “Jabba’s Gambit” mission on release day, meaning that those who have purchased just the standard edition of the game are going to be locked out of content from the get-go.
While locking content behind a paywall immediately is already worth criticism regardless of the type of game it is, the controversy surrounding Star Wars Outlaws‘ Season Pass has been particularly loud due to the game being a completely single-player experience. Not only are Season Passes frowned upon for single-player games, but announcing one before a game has even come out is particularly troublesome, implying to many that the content eventually included should have been in the game to begin with, for no extra cost.
Star Wars Outlaws
Massive Entertainment’s Star Wars Outlaws is an in-development game that will be published by Ubisoft. The sci-fi franchise’s first full open-world project, Outlaws follows Kay Vess and is set during the Imperial Era. Announced for PC and ninth-generation hardware, the game is expected to drop in 2024.
- Released
- August 30, 2024
- Publisher(s)
- Ubisoft , Lucasfilm Games
