Star Wars Outlaws releasing "late this year", Disney says

UPDATE 4/1/24: Disney Parks has updated its original promotional post, and now lists Star Wars Outlaws as arriving in 2024. It no longer gives a more specific timeframe.

As we reported yesterday, this post initially said Ubisoft's upcoming open world Star Wars game would arrive "late this year".

The original story continues below.

ORIGINAL 3/1/24: Ubisoft's upcoming open world Star Wars game Outlaws looks to be set for a "late" 2024 release.

Until today, the Ubisoft game held a much wider ranging 2024 release window. However, a Disney Parks blog post promoting a variety of events and such for the next 12 months has Star Wars Outlaws listed as arriving towards the tail end of the year.

"Star Wars Outlaws, the open world Star Wars game, is set to release late this year," the post reads (thanks, IGN). "The game lets you explore distinct planets across the galaxy, both iconic and new. You can risk it all as Kay Vess, an emerging scoundrel seeking freedom and the means to start a new life, along with her companion Nix. If you're willing to take the risk, the galaxy is full of opportunity."

This newly revealed release window provides further compelling evidence that Star Wars Outlaws may indeed be the mystery large game Ubisoft delayed from releasing before the end of this fiscal year.

Star Wars Outlaws is probably one of my more anticipated games of 2024 (being a Star Wars fan, that much is to be expected). But personal fandom aside, having read a few recent previews for the upcoming release, I am feeling cautiously optimistic.

Speaking with Kotaku, narrative director Navid Khavari stated players will be able to "go from on foot, to speeder, to your ship and easily jump between planets". It remains to be seen how seamless this will be in comparison to, say, Starfield's loading screens.

The developer also promised a "deeply immersive Star Wars journey", which we will be going on with scoundrel Kay Vess in the time between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Kay, it is worth mentioning, is not a Jedi, and I am looking forward to this more 'scrappy' gaming experience.

"We wanted to create a scoundrel who has never experienced anything like this before," Khavari told Kotaku. "She hasn't figured it all out yet, and doesn't have all the right answers all the time. I hope players will see a bit of themselves in Kay."

We will also be able to get some quests from none other than Jabba the Hutt, with other familiar faces also teased to be making a showing on the game's release.

Star Wars Outlaws is in development for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. Its planets will all be hand-crafted rather than procedurally generated, and equivalent in size to two "zones" in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. Don't feel too overwhelmed by this news, though. Despite its open world, Star Wars Outlaws won't be a "300 hour epic unfinishable RPG", the developer has said.