There was a lot of hype surrounding the release of Star Wars Outlaws, but the game launched with disappointing numbers, and many people are calling it a AAA flop.
Before fans sweep Outlaws under the rug like Concord, it looks like the devs at Massive Entertainment are still trying to salvage the game, and they’ve just made a huge move by hiring a new creative director with Drew Rechner.
Drew Rechner Hired as Creative Director for Star Wars Outlaws
In a recent post from Ubisoft, the devs talk about the early reception of the game and how they’ve been treating all of the player feedback. Rechner also says they are working on three key things to improve the game: Combat, Stealth, and Controls. Here’s what he wrote:
“The first key area of improvement to the game is combat where we see a real opportunity to add more depth and excitement to the experience, further rewarding your tactics and precision. Our second key area is stealth which is not only about improving the readability and consistency of enemy detection, but also providing choice in how you want to approach each encounter. Finally, our third key area of focus is centered around the character controls, which means improving the reliability of cover, increasing the responsiveness of climbing and crouching, and generally improving the consistency of the controls overall.”
Fans should expect more specifics down the line, but the game's biggest update yet is expected to drop on Nov. 21.
Initial Problems with Outlaws
When Outlaws first came out, many praised the impressive visuals, but the game was also plagued with bugs at launch. Many players also complained that the missions became repetitive outside of the main campaign and that there was very little variety in what players could do around the galaxy.
With the massive world that Outlaws was touting, Ubisoft was probably expecting the game to be able to sustain a larger player base for a couple more years, but based on the numbers that they were expecting, Outlaws doesn’t seem to have gathered a player base worth its price tag.
Can Outlaws be Salvaged at All?
No doubt Outlaws has a chance of getting salvaged down the line. Previous games with disastrous launches have grown their player base over a few years. Cyberpunk 2077 and No Man’s Sky are prime examples, but if you want to look at another Star Wars property, Star Wars Battlefront II was able to pick itself up from its poor launch by adding all kinds of playable characters and DLC over the next few months since it released.
When it comes to Outlaws, it still has a massive feather in its cap in that it’s connected to the Star Wars universe, and there are multiple opportunities for the game to milk the brand synergy with incoming series like Skeleton Crew, and upcoming movies like the Mandalorian film.
Of course, these aren’t guarantees that Outlaws will be able to dig itself out of the hole, but at least Ubisoft is making it clear that they aren’t giving up on the game just yet.
Star Wars Outlaws is now playable for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.