Star Wars Outlaws: What Is the Upcoming Ubisoft Game About?

The official story trailer for Star Wars Outlaws just dropped – so, what is the upcoming Ubisoft action-adventure game about? And does it feature any cameos by legacy Star Wars characters?

Related: Is Star Wars Outlaws Coming to Xbox Game Pass? – Answered

Star Wars Outlaws charts the exploits of plucky scoundrel Kay Vess in the period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It’s effectively a heist caper set in a galaxy far, far away, with Kay and her faithful pet alien Nix out to pull down a big score. Their target: Zerek Besh, a previously unseen and very cashed-up criminal syndicate. Along the way, Kay and Nix will planet-hop across the Outer Rim, visiting a range of new and familiar worlds, including Tatooine, Kijimi, Akiva, and the moon of Toshara. But they won’t get much sightseeing done, as Zerek Besh-hired bounty hunter Vail will spend at least part of Star Wars Outlaws‘ story hot on their heels!

Related: When Does Star Wars Outlaws Take Place? – Answered

If the above breakdown gives you strong Solo: A Star Wars Story vibes, that’s by design. Outlaws creative director, Julian Gerighty, recently cited the 2018 spinoff flick as a key influence on the game. “I think all of the Star Wars movies, in particular the original trilogy and Solo and Rogue One, were the founding texts,” Gerighty said. “But when we started working with Lucasfilm, we were always coming back to, ‘What is a scoundrel? What is this archetype within the Star Wars galaxy?’ But even wider than that, there are many scoundrels that are super interesting to look at… [but] one story that we could own [is] about the coming of age of somebody who’s basically a petty thief that grows up to be a real outlaw. So Solo is a great reference there.”

Star Wars Outlaws has more in common with Solo than just overlapping story elements, though. The game also sees the return of characters and organizations first introduced in that film. Notably, femme fatale Qi’ra and the underworld outfit she’s part of, Crimson Dawn, are both confirmed to appear. Reports indicate that Solo star Emilia Clarke won’t reprise the Qi’ra role, however.

Related: Is Solo’s Qi’ra in Star Wars Outlaws?

Other nods to existing canon in Star Wars Outlaws include cameos by the Pyke Syndicate and Jabba the Hutt. The Pyke Syndicate debuted in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, before making the jump to live-action in the Book of Boba Fett limited series. Meanwhile, slug-like gangster Jabba is one of the Star Wars universe’s most iconic villains, who – Special Edition re-releases notwithstanding – first appeared in Return of the Jedi.

Star Wars Outlaws arrives on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows on August 30, 2024.

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