When is Star Wars Outlaws set?

Star Wars Outlaws
Credit: Massive Entertainment

Star Wars Outlaws
Credit: Massive Entertainment

Star Wars Outlaws is the next major video game installment of the famed franchise. This comes after the massive success of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which was released in April 2023 to critical and commercial acclaim. While the main draw of Outlaws is that it will be the first-ever open-world Star Wars game, some players are more concerned with exactly what time period it takes place.

As with any entry into the Star Wars franchise, timing is everything. The timeline throughout the Star Wars universe determines what characters are active, who's in power, what conflict is currently ongoing, and much more. Naturally, the plot of Outlaws will largely stem from what year in the timeline the game takes place.

Ubisoft did officially confirm the time period in which Outlaws is set, so to see the answer to that question, you can check out the guide below.

What time does Star Wars Outlaws take place?

Kay Vess in Star Wars Outlaws
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Credit: Ubisoft
Kay Vess the main protagonist in Star Wars Outlaws.

Officially, Star Wars Outlaws is set in between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. This puts it in the year of either 3 or 4 ABY, depending on how close it is to either movie.

Our main protagonist in Outlaws, Kay Vess, is seen trying to outrun the Galactic Empire in the gameplay trailer we saw at the Xbox Games Showcase. This makes perfect sense in terms of the timeline, as the Empire is still very much the dominating force before the events of Return of the Jedi.

This basically means that Star Wars Outlaws will be canon, it just remains to be seen how the developers will handle canon in the overarching story and world. However, if Fallen Order and Survivor are anything to go by, fans can expect to see plenty of familiar faces and locations in Outlaws.

As of right now, that's about all we know regarding the time period of Star Wars Outlaws. It remains to be seen where the game will take the player as protagonist Kay Vess, but we should hear more in the coming months.

Star Wars Outlaws does not have a release date yet but it is currently planned to arrive in 2024.