At Star Wars Celebration this week, players finally got a proper peek at the upcoming second expansion for Star Wars Outlaws, including our first look at the grand return of beloved space pirate Hondo Ohnaka. Ubisoft also revealed some new details regarding a newly announced Nintendo Switch 2 version of the open-world game and an effort to give players on the fence about the title a way
A Pirate’s Fortune, the follow-up to last November’s surprisingly excellent Wild Card, will release May 15, according to developer Massive Entertainment. It will feature protagonist Kay Vess teaming up with the charasmatic Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels side character to take on a new gang leader in the Khepi system. The two anti-heroes will seek out a secret tomb in the remote part of the galaxy, one which holds some unknown valuable treasure.
The trailer suggests that Vess and Ohnaka cross paths by pure happenstance while locked up in a prison cell, with the latter mentioning that he’s once again been abandoned by the band of hapless followers that he typically has backing him up. The two will also meet a new trading league that offers Vess some new upgrades for her ship and gear, so long as she’s willing to smuggle some illict goods in exchange.
Unlike the last expansion, A Pirate’s Fortune won’t fit neatly into a playthrough already in progress. Ubisoft has confirmed that players must finish the core game’s main story quest to access A Pirate’s Fortune. For those ready for the Hando team up, Ubisoft has revealed that there will be several Skeleton Crew-themed cosmetics waiting for you right from the start. The expansion will be free to owners of the season pass, and sold seperately for $14.99.
For players who are still on the fence about the game after its shaky release, there’s a demo for people to try. It contains the opening three hours of Outlaws, which is just enough to get through all of the game’s tutorials and unravel the stakes of its story. With the wave of improvements the game has recieved since launch, now’s as good a time as any to see if the game is for you.
For players looking to pick up a Nintendo Switch 2 in June, they may want to wait before pulling the trigger on any of the other versions. Ubisoft also announced that Outlaws will release on the powerful new handheld on September 4. Outlaws was one of 2024’s most graphically intense games, one that struggled to run on older popular handhelds like the Steam Deck. A 40-second trailer shows that some minor compromises have been made to get it running on a Switch 2. But those understandable concessions don’t make the game any less impressive.
It’s been a long journey for Star Wars Outlaws. The game released to mixed reviews when it launched last August. While there was plenty to enjoy for Star Wars fans, as this was the first time players got to explore the galaxy on their own accord, some divisive design decisions and bugs made it an average open-world game at best. That reception reflected in its less than stellar sales.
Thankfully, Massive Entertainment has been adament on improving the game. The last big update dropped at the same time as Wild Card, and was the perfect showcase for how the developer’s post-launch support is making it a much better experience. Some of those changes include the axing of mandatory stealth sections and the ability to carry enemy weapons with you, adding some much needed variety to the game’s combat.
