Disney confirms, then retracts Star Wars Outlaws release window

By Tomas Franzese January 2, 2024

The first couple months of 2024 are jam-packed with games like Tekken 8, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Princess Peach Showtime, but the fall calendar is currently much more of a mystery. An article from Disney today claimed that Star Wars Outlaws would be one of the fall’s most notable AAA releases, but Ubisoft has since corrected that error and is keeping the highly anticipated game’s release window at a vague “2024” for now.

Kay Vass joined by her small alien companion called Nix in a futuristic city. — Ubisoft

Developed by Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora studio Massive Entertainment, Star Wars Outlaws looks like it will be an ambitious open-world game that will follow young smuggler named Kay Vess and her struggles during the time period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It looks like the closest thing we’ll ever get to a Star Wars version of Red Dead Redemption 2. Star Wars Outlaws impressed with showings at June 2023’s Xbox Games Showcase and Ubisoft Forward, and previously only had a vague 2024 release window.”

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On January 2, the official Disney Parks Blog posted about 24 new Disney experiences coming throughout this year. One of those experiences is Star Wars Outlaws, and it said that the game would launch in “late 2024.” Outlets including IGN reported on this, but Ubisoft quickly caught Disney’s error. The Disney Parks Blog now only says it’ll arrive in 2024, while IGN was asked to “correct” the release window to a much more vague 2024.

As a result, the specifics of Star Wars Outlaws‘ release window now seems like more of a mystery than it was before. Hopefully, this means that the game arrives a bit earlier than expected, but Ubisoft’s track record also indicates that it could eventually be delayed further. Regardless, Star Wars Outlaws will be on PC, PlayStation , and Xbox Series X/S whenever it launches.

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Gaming Staff Writer

As a Gaming Staff Writer on Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

Gaming

Star Wars Outlaws pays its respects to a 1980s arcade legend

An arcade machine appears in Star Wars Outlaws.

While the era of arcades was long past its prime by the time I started playing games, I still appreciate the elegant simplicity of many of those classics. Games like Pac-Man, Pole Position, and Galaga aren't that complex ,but I'm drawn to replay them as I chase high scores. I was reminded of that grace of arcade games when I played Star Wars Outlaws, which includes some original ones as in-world minigames.

Players can find arcade cabinets for two different games-within-a-game near cantinas across Star Wars Outlaws' planets. One is titled Raven 6 and is a space shooter based on the look and feel of Atari's classic Star Wars arcade game. The other is Racer, a time trial game where players must speed to the end of a level as quickly as possible without hitting any obstacles.

Gaming

The best Syndicate rewards in Star Wars Outlaws

One character points a gun at others while gambling in a bar in the trailer for Star Wars Outlaws.

You will learn very quickly in Star Wars Outlaws that it isn't the Empire that runs things -- it's the syndicates. These crime families each fight for power over the various planets you will explore and all see you as a potential pawn in their schemes. Kay has a lot of useful skills and abilities they want to take advantage of, but it isn't a one-way street. If you can raise your reputation with a syndicate all the way to the max, you can earn yourself some valuable and exclusive rewards you won't find in any container you lockpick. Doing that many jobs for a syndicate takes time, but also tends to incur the wrath of other syndicates at the same time, making it very challenging to keep everyone happy. These syndicates have the best rewards that you should work your way through the ranks to get.
How reputation works

Each of the four major syndicates in Star Wars Outlaws has their own reputation meter you need to manage. These have five major segments: Terrible, Bad, Poor, Good, and Excellent. You raise that meter by doing jobs for a syndicate and lower it by either doing jobs that hurt that syndicate or by fighting or trespassing on their turf.

Gaming

All Experts in Star Wars Outlaws and where to find them

star wars outlaws interview returning characters qi ra

Unlike most other Ubisoft games, or even most RPGs for that matter, you don't level up and unlock skills as you would expect to in Star Wars Outlaws. You won't earn any points or find a skill tree waiting for you here, but rather the new Experts system. As you explore the galaxy and meet new people while hunting for treasures, you will encounter special characters called Experts who are willing to help Kay expand her skills. Well, once you find and help them out, that is. Without their help, you're stuck with your basic abilities for the whole game, so taking a break from your main quest to find them is well worth your time. The galaxy is a big place, so we'll tell you where to find each of the Experts in Star Wars Outlaws.
How learning new skills works

As we mentioned, you won't find yourself leveling up after completing missions or dispatching enemies. The only way to learn any new skills is through finding an Expert.