Skip to main content

Star Wars Outlaws’ summer release date leaks ahead of official reveal

Star Wars Outlaws splash art depicting Kay Vess and Nix
Ubisoft

Ubisoft Japan accidentally beat its global counterparts to the release date announcement punch, leaking the fact that Star Wars Outlaws will launch on August 30.

Ubisoft planned to release a new story trailer for Star Wars Outlaws, its open-world shooter about a smuggler fighting to stay afloat in the galaxy between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, on Tuesday morning. It set premieres across all its international YouTube channels for this trailer, and while the description for most of them had a message along the lines of “Stay tuned for the World Premiere of the Star Wars Outlaws Story Trailer,” Ubisoft Japan slipped up. As spotted by Gematsu, the description of a since-delisted premiere for the trailer on Ubisoft Japan’s channel revealed an August 30 release date.

Recommended Videos

That release date was then confirmed when the full trailer for Star Wars Outlaws was released. It focuses on the game’s narrative, which will see smuggler Kay Vess get in over her head as she takes on the various crime syndicates and visits planets like Tatooine and Kijimi. At the end of the trailer, Ubisoft confirms the August 30 release date, although it also notes that those who purchase the Gold or Ultimate Editions of the game can play it three days early.

Star Wars Outlaws: Official Story Trailer

Getting a release date is big news, as Ubisoft has not revealed much about Star Wars Outlaws or when it will be released since unveiling it at the Xbox Games Showcase and Ubisoft Forward live streams in June 2023. In fact, Ubisoft denied a claim by Disney back in January that the game would be released this fall. In reality, Star Wars Outlaws will be arriving just before the beginning of fall.

Star Wars Outlaws will be available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

Tomas Franzese
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A former Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese now reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
All Jet Vault locations in Star Wars Outlaws
Kay tries to enter Crimson Dawn territory.

One of the most tantalizing distractions in Star Wars Outlaws is the Jet Kordo Holodiscs. After you find your first one and gain access to the Holotracker early on in the game, you will be teased with a hidden treasure from this legendary scoundrel that is just waiting to be looted. Unlock other treasures that you can just lockpick, Jet put a bit more thought into keeping his loot hidden from anyone unworthy of it. You will need to find six individual vaults across the galaxy before you can get the big score at the end, but it will all be worth it. If you're having trouble locating each vault, we'll put an X on your map so you can go right to them.
Jet Kordo rewards

After you've collected all the loot from the vaults and returned to Toshara, you can claim your last reward.

Read more
One small Star Wars Outlaws moment gets autism representation right
Star Wars Outlaws key art that features Kay Vess.

While playing through the first few hours of Star Wars Outlaws, I found myself once again presented with an all-too-familiar trope. ND-5, the game's primary droid crewmate to Kay Vess, appeared to be yet another autism-coded droid that is typically played for laughs or treated as "other" by the main cast.

He is introduced as a stoic and serious character who appears to have no sympathy for anything but his mission. Once he and Kay officially team up, he is given the role of the straight man. Kay will quip and make ironic or sarcastic comments that ND-5 responds to with sincerity. Whenever she asks a question, he delivers his honest answer without cushioning the blow if it would be insulting. In times when Kay wants to act based on emotion, he counters with cold logic. Generally speaking, these are all common traits those on the autism spectrum present.

Read more
Star Wars Outlaws pays its respects to a 1980s arcade legend
An arcade machine appears in Star Wars Outlaws.

While the era of arcades was long past its prime by the time I started playing games, I still appreciate the elegant simplicity of many of those classics. Games like Pac-Man, Pole Position, and Galaga aren't that complex ,but I'm drawn to replay them as I chase high scores. I was reminded of that grace of arcade games when I played Star Wars Outlaws, which includes some original ones as in-world minigames.

Players can find arcade cabinets for two different games-within-a-game near cantinas across Star Wars Outlaws' planets. One is titled Raven 6 and is a space shooter based on the look and feel of Atari's classic Star Wars arcade game. The other is Racer, a time trial game where players must speed to the end of a level as quickly as possible without hitting any obstacles.

Read more