The force was not strong with Star Wars Outlaws. A year after its first release on August 30, 2024, developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft and Lucasfilm Games, a planned sequel was reportedly canceled because the original game did poorly.
According to reports, Star Wars Outlaws 2, which was in the very early planning stages, was scrapped by Ubisoft after executives decided the first game was both a financial letdown and a disappointment with critics. There was a lot of early excitement for Star Wars Outlaws. However, those hopes fell apart when the game had weak sales and only a mildly positive response from players.
Star Wars Outlaws failures hurt any sequels
The game’s poor performance became a topic of discussion at Ubisoft. CEO Yves Guillemot even talked about the sales in an interview, saying the Star Wars brand was in “rough shape” when the game came out. Whether or not that explanation holds up, the reality was clear: Star Wars Outlaws did not meet expectations, and its financial struggles directly hurt the chances of a sequel.
The news about the sequel’s cancellation first came from Tom Henderson on the Insider Gaming Podcast. Henderson, who is known for his inside knowledge of the gaming industry, said Ubisoft had originally planned to make Star Wars Outlaws 2 but changed their minds after seeing how the first game was received.
Henderson explained, “They also recently canceled Star Wars Outlaws 2, because that was planned and in the works. It wasn’t set in stone or in full production; it was very, very early. They looked at Outlaws 2 and thought, ‘Let’s not do that.'”
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Henderson’s report matches what many players and critics have said about Star Wars Outlaws—that it didn’t live up to its early promise. While the idea of a Star Wars RPG was exciting, the final game had major flaws that hurt its success.
Very few people liked the game
One of the biggest complaints was about forced stealth sections. Many players found these parts boring and annoying, making the game less fun overall. Months after launch, Ubisoft released an update that removed these sections to try and fix the problem. But for many players, it was too late. The bad first impression from these frustrating mechanics was hard to shake.
Aside from gameplay problems, reviews also pointed out that Star Wars Outlaws suffered from a dull story and the tired feeling of Ubisoft’s usual open-world design. The game had potential, but it never reached the high expectations, leading to its financial struggles.
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Despite its rough start, Star Wars Outlaws did get better over time. Updates and DLCs, like Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate’s Fortune, fixed many of the early issues, improving gameplay and adding new content. Some players even said these updates turned the game into something genuinely fun.
But the improvements came too late to save the game’s reputation or boost sales. Like Sony’s Days Gone, Star Wars Outlaws had a messy launch that hurt it from the beginning. In today’s gaming industry, where players are quick to dismiss flawed games, Star Wars Outlaws never got past its bad first impression.
