A recent reveal for Ubisoft's highly anticipated open-world Star Wars game, Star Wars Outlaws, has come to the delighted surprise of fans everywhere, paired generously a day later with an in-depth gameplay showcase. With an emphasis on cinema-quality spectacle and fidelity, including all the familiar trappings fans have come to expect from the franchise, the reveal trailer for Star Wars Outlaws parallels Quantic Dream's 2022 reveal trailer for Star Wars Eclipse in several meaningful ways.
The recent Xbox Showcase brought a bevy of fresh trailers to the gaming masses, fanning the flames of hype into 2024 and filling out the 2023 holiday release schedule with some of the year's most high-profile games. Of the reveals, one of the most notable was Star Wars Outlaws, the new entry from Massive Entertainment whose previous titles include The Division series and the upcoming Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. The trailer bespoke a high-budget, high-quality AAA product that dutifully lives up to the Star Wars IP, becoming a marquis moment for the Xbox Showcase and setting the internet abuzz with speculation.
The New Era of Star Wars Games is Off to a Strong Start
Star Wars Outlaws was previously known as Ubisoft's untitled open-world Star Wars project. Initially announced in 2021, it represents the end of EA's decade-long exclusivity deal with Lucasarts as the sole publisher of Star Wars video games. While EA has done okay with the IP, especially as of late with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, most fans view this deal's conclusion as a boon for the future of Star Wars in gaming. The next few years are sure to be a smorgasbord of announced titles from a medley of developers set in the universe, but the two big hitters that now both have their initial trailers out, Star Wars Outlaws and Star Wars Eclipse, have already set a daunting precedent.
Quantic Dream is a studio known for narrative-focused adventures with gameplay centered around branching conversation trees and quicktime events. Another hallmark of the studio is its cutting-edge visuals, a trait kept consistent with the reveal for Star Wars Eclipse. Set during the High Republic, the trailer revealed little about the game's story, though oozed style, with scenes of classic Star Wars imagery intercut with primal Sith-like figures wailing away on giant battle drums. Many view the Star Wars Eclipse trailer as the triumphant herald of Star Wars' uncoupling from EA, showing great potential for the franchise's future in gaming.
Star Wars Eclipse and Outlaws Are Two Sides of the Same Coin
Massive's reveal for Star Wars Outlaws kept in Star Wars Eclipse's quality, albeit with a more straightforward unveiling of its themes and characters. Featuring the game's protagonist prominently, the two-minute video shed a great deal of light onto what fans should expect from the open-world action adventure. In lieu of the ominous chanting and drums was expository dialog, setting the stage for a more grounded Star Wars story, invoking elements of Rogue One and Andor. The gameplay showcase hosted a day after the initial trailer further peeled back the curtain on Star Wars Outlaw, introducing the world to Kay Vess and her struggle against both the Syndicate and the Empire.
Though Star Wars Eclipse and Star Wars Outlaws are set centuries apart, they are both unmistakably Star Wars. From visceral interstellar dog-fighting to weathered thoroughfares bustling with surface commerce and seedy underbellies, both trailers view as a love letter to the distinct qualities of one of the world's most beloved IPs. Between the two trailers, the entire spectrum of Star Wars is on fine display. Star Wars Outlaws is announced for 2024, with Star Wars Eclipse tentatively set to release in the same year, making the near future an exciting time for gaming fans of a galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars Outlaws releases in 2024 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
