Star Wars fans have plenty to look forward to this summer. Early in June, The Acolyte TV series premiered on Disney Plus to largely positive reviews, and it’s being followed up by one of the most anticipated games of the year set in a galaxy far, far away.
Today, in a new livestream, Ubisoft showed off a new mission in Star Wars Outlaws as well as some of the locations new heroine Kay Vess will visit — including Mos Eisley from the original trilogy. To get started, she first needs to seek out an expert with information on her target. But once she boards her spaceship, she runs into a freighter being attacked by pirates. Players can choose whether or not to intervene in encounters like this, bringing some of the feeling of Ubisoft’s other open-world games into the more refreshing avenue of space travel.
Taking out the pirates also changes Vess’ reputation with the factions involved, and her standing with these groups will affect what kind of jobs she can do for them — or whether they’ll attack her on sight. In the mission shown by Ubisoft, Vess first sneaks into a hostile camp to find information before blowing her cover and having to blast her way out. The seamless blending of spaceflight, stealth, and combat so far sells the fantasy of living as a scoundrel in Star Wars.
Star Wars Outlaws’ release date has been a moving target since the game was first announced. Ubisoft first set a tentative 2024 release window for the game, while reportedly working toward a release in the year’s first quarter ending in March. When an earnings call revealed that one of the publisher’s games was being pushed to 2025, fans were worried it was Star Wars Outlaws, but that turned out not to be the case. In early April, Ubisoft finally announced a release date of August 30 for the sci-fi adventure.
However, fans who are more eager to jump into the cockpit (and willing to shell out a lot of extra cash to do so) can get early access starting a few days beforehand. Star Wars Outlaws’ Gold Edition ($109.99) and Ultimate Edition ($129.99) both offer a three-day head start on the game, but you might be better off just saving your credits.
While the finer details of Star Wars Outlaws’ story are yet to be revealed, we do know that it will be a far cry from the Force-powered journey of Cal Kestis in the Star Wars Jedi series. Star Wars Outlaws follows Kay Vess as she works her way through the dark underbelly of the Star Wars universe, rubbing shoulders with smugglers and scoundrels from Jabba the Hutt to Han Solo along the way. But rather than the unfailingly cool Han Solo, Vess is still learning her way around the galaxy during the game’s events.
“She doesn't have the confidence or the cool of a Han Solo, she's learning the ropes,” creative director Julian Gerighty told Entertainment Weekly. “She’s faking it until she makes it.”
Joining Kay Vess on her journey are Nix, a cuddly animal companion who’s challenging porgs for the title of “most adorable creature in the galaxy” and ND-5, a hulking droid in a duster that Star Wars fans have been thirsting over since his initial reveal. In the new trailer, we got a better look at how Nix comes into play during missions, whether it’s acting as a distraction or activating distant devices.
Gerighty also said that Star Wars Outlaws will have a playful sense of humor, harkening back to the adventure films that originally inspired Star Wars, with droid companion ND-5 playing more of a straight-man role. Still, this is a dangerous adventure, and Vess is dealing with untrustworthy sorts throughout the galaxy. In addition to the local crime syndicate on each planet, she’ll have to dodge the Empire or risk incurring their wrath.
“Think the police in Grand Theft Auto,” Gerighty said of the Empire. “If you start being seen doing crimes, that will start getting them to chase you. If you take some of them out, then it gets worse and worse, where they'll send, at the ultimate level, Death Troopers — and maybe even worse."
After its latest showing at Ubisoft Forward, Star Wars Outlaws is looking more promising than ever. Even if you’re over Ubisoft’s style of open-world design — and if you are, who could blame you? — developer Massive Entertainment has found a way to make it feel engaging again. Between its charming protagonist and gameplay that prioritizes diplomacy as much as combat, this may be the game we’ve waited for since the cancellation of Project Ragtag.
