Star Wars Outlaws

Star Wars Outlaws is an upcoming action-adventure game developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. Set in the Star Wars universe between the events of The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), the story follows Kay Vess, a young scoundrel who assembles a team for a massive heist in order to pay off a crime syndicate. The game is played from a third-person perspective, with the player traversing an open world environment and engaging in various activities.

The development team, supported by Lucasfilm Games and ten other Ubisoft studios, sought to combine canonical elements of the Star Wars universe with their own ideas, focusing on creating cinematic and seamless gameplay. Humberly González provided the motion capture and voice for Kay, while Dee Bradley Baker voiced her companion, Nix. Star Wars Outlaws is scheduled to release for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S in August 2024.

Gameplay
Star Wars Outlaws is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective. The player controls the scoundrel Kay Vess, traversing open world environment on planets and in space while engaging in various activities. Combat combines melee attacks and the use of a blaster, which has several firing modes, including an electromagnetic pulse. Kay can utilize environmental objects, such as explosive barrels, to her advantage. She can also use stealth to sneak past or neutralize enemies. Kay's arsenal includes a grappling hook and an electronic hacking device. Her companion, a small creature named Nix, can scan the environment, interact with objects, and distract or attack enemies.

The player traverses planetary surfaces on a speeder bike and travels between planets aboard a starship called the Trailblazer. The player can also explore the orbits of planets and moons, as well as engage in space combat using the ship's weapons, including a laser cannon and missiles. Space stations provide hubs for trade and additional missions. By completing game activities, the player earn credits that can be used to purchase customization items and gear. As the game progresses, the player can upgrade Kay and Nix's abilities, along with enhancements for the blaster, speeder, and Trailblazer. The player can acquire new skills and upgrades by seeking out experts and completing their assignments.

In Outlaws, the player encounters four syndicates: the Ashiga Clan, Crimson Dawn, Hutt Cartel, and Pyke Syndicate. Completing assignments for these syndicates influences Kay's reputation with each. A high faction reputation grants access to territories, assignments, contracts, and discounts in faction shops. Conversely, a low reputation may result in syndicates dispatching mercenaries to pursue Kay. The player's decisions and actions throughout the game directly impact Kay's reputation. The game features a six-level wanted system that determines the intensity of Imperial forces' pursuit of Kay for committing crimes. The player can evade pursuit by hiding, bribing, or eliminating enemies. Additionally, the game features dialogue tree with answer choices that affect mission outcomes.

Development
At E3 2018, David Polfeldt, then-CEO of Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment, expressed interest in working on projects based on Disney franchises, including Star Wars, during discussions with Disney representatives. Disney had already included the studio on their shortlist of developers they wanted to collaborate with. Meanwhile, Massive, eager to move beyond the games as a service model used in their previous titles, sought to expand their creative opportunities. In 2020, the studio pitched a "scoundrel fantasy" concept to Lucasfilm Games, a subsidiary of Disney's Lucasfilm, envisioning a seamless open world gameplay. The idea was well-received by Lucasfilm, leading to the development of Star Wars Outlaws. This marked the first Star Wars project developed without Electronic Arts' involvement since Disney's 2013 agreement granting the company exclusive rights to produce Star Wars games.

A team of approximately 600 developers from eleven Ubisoft studios, including Massive, participated in the development of Outlaws. It was led by creative director Julian Gerighty, known for his work on Tom Clancy's The Division (2016) and its 2019 sequel, along with game director Mathias Karlson. They were joined by narrative director Navid Khavari, whose previous projects included Far Cry 5 (2018) and Far Cry 6 (2021), and lead writer Nikki Foy, known for Watch Dogs: Legion (2020) and downloadable content for Far Cry 6. Lucasfilm Games provided additional support. The team aimed to integrate canonical Star Wars elements with their own ideas, adhering to the design principles of Ralph McQuarrie, the conceptual designer for the original trilogy. Their research encompassed a range of Star Wars media, including animated series and books. Furthermore, the developers drew inspiration from the sources that influenced George Lucas, such as spaghetti Westerns, the works of Akira Kurosawa, and classic war films, in addition to McQuarrie's concept art, Joe Johnston's storyboards, and Phil Tippett's creature designs.

Lucasfilm proposed the time gap between The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) as the setting for Outlaws. This period was deemed a "perfect starting point" as it allowed the story to shift away from the Rebel Alliance and instead focus on the criminal underworld, a subject not deeply explored in the franchise before. In the early stages of development, Massive compiled a list of planets for the game, including established Star Wars planets like Kijimi and new locations like Toshara, which was inspired by African savannas, particularly those of Tanzania. Despite the challenges presented by the existing Star Wars material about the planet, the team also decided to incorporate Tatooine. They relied on Dorling Kindersley's Star Wars visual guides to recreate the city of Mos Eisley and the planet's distinctive dunes and canyons.

The studio aimed to present the protagonist, Kay Vess, as a "resourceful underdog," contrasting with the trained soldier archetype seen in their The Division series. Star Wars characters such as Han Solo and Lando Calrissian, along with characters from other franchises like Jack Sparrow, Indiana Jones, and James Bond, influenced Kay's persona. At the same time, the developers wanted to make Kay more relatable by emphasizing her inexperience. Gerighty stated that Kay's story arc was a coming-of-age journey, transforming her from a "street thief to a fully-fledged scoundrel who is well known and kind of respected and feared by the syndicates." Martin Scorsese's 1985 film After Hours served as one of the inspirations for Kay's storyline. Her appearance, including her clothing and physical attributes like her broken nose and scars, was designed to visually convey her life experiences.

Massive and Lucasfilm introduced the merqaal, a new species to the franchise, with Kay's companion, Nix, being one of them. The developers envisioned Kay and Nix as the main characters, emphasizing their synergy. Their goal was to integrate them organically with existing franchise characters while avoiding fan service. Humberly González provided both the motion capture and voice for Kay, while Dee Bradley Baker voiced Nix. González had previously worked with Ubisoft on Far Cry 6, and Baker is known for his numerous roles in Star Wars media, including the animated series The Clone Wars (2008–14, 2020) and The Bad Batch (2021–2024). Gerighty stated that González was chosen for her ability to embody the multifaceted nature of Kay's character.

The development team aimed to create gameplay that felt cinematic and seamless. They sought to evoke a "matinee action" atmosphere and employed visual techniques such as vignetting, film grain, lens effects, and ultrawide resolution, drawing inspiration from the visual style of Rogue One (2016). The developers focused on creating the game's open world that expanded gradually and felt "conscious," rather than simply being large in scale. They aimed to design combat that offered diverse tactical approaches, avoiding a narrow focus on "precisely taking cover and taking headshots." Gerighty said that they wanted to convey the experience of a clever scoundrel rather than a trained soldier. To enhance Nix's usefulness as a companion, the developers drew inspiration from lemurs and monkeys, granting Nix abilities like object manipulation. They also incorporated reptilian features to highlight Nix's "tough side" and reflect the character's corresponding skills. The speeder movement was inspired by motocross. To develop space combat, Massive collaborated with other Ubisoft studios experienced in arcade flight and combat simulators. Their goal was to make starship controls intuitive while fostering deeper, more intense space combat through a slower pace. The team ultimately decided against direct flight over planetary surfaces, finding it inefficient and resource-consuming.

Outlaws was developed using the Snowdrop engine, which had been enhanced to support Massive's three core design pillars: densely populated, dynamic cities; expansive landscapes with various activities; and outer space exploration. The developers chose to handcraft each game environment, deciding against using procedural generation. The visual design was inspired by the aesthetics of the 1970s and 1980s, which Gerighty described as "timeless." For instance, Kay's simplistic starship design drew inspiration from 1970s toys. Kay's speeder was modeled after a Swedish motocross bike, featuring a simplified and retrofuturistic style. Nix's design combined features of the developers' pets with those of wild animals such as armadillos. To capture Nix's movements, a puppet was used, while the character's 3D model utilized shaders that mimicked latex. When developing accessibility options, the team collaborated with players with disabilities, consultants, and conducted user research. They also worked closely with Descriptive Video Works to implement audio description for cutscenes, making Outlaws the first Ubisoft game to feature this. The game offers 60 accessibility options, including audio cues, visual aids, and customizable controls.

Marketing and release
Following an initial announcement in January 2021, the game's title and debut trailer were revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2023. In April 2024, a story trailer was released, along with the announcement of two special editions. Both editions include a season pass featuring a bonus story mission, cosmetics, and future story expansions, with one edition offering an additional cosmetics. Pre-orders for the editions, priced at $110 and $130 respectively, launched simultaneously, offering vehicle cosmetics and granting early access to the game several days before its official release. The pricing and content of these editions drew criticism from some members of the gaming community. That same month, Ubisoft announced a partnership with Intel to bundle the game with select 14th generation Raptor Lake processors.

In June 2024, journalists were given a hands-on demonstration at Summer Game Fest. Development of Outlaws ceased by July as the game was submitted for manufacturing. On July 17, IGN released 10 minutes of uninterrupted gameplay. The video ultimately saw a mixed response from players. The game is scheduled to release on August 30 for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, with availability also on GeForce Now and Ubisoft+.