Star Wars is the most well-known science fiction franchise, with several successful movies. However, many of its video games have been less well-received. Star Wars: Outlaws is the most recent game to disappoint fans. We’ll spend this article addressing the problems with Star Wars Outlaws and what can be done to solve many of them.
Only a month after its release, Star Wars Outlaws is lagging in sales. It joins a long list of Star Wars titles that have failed to capture the public’s imagination. But what has been wrong with the game? Star Wars Outlaws and its move to the dark side are discussed in the text below.
Star Wars Outlaws Sells Just 1 Million Copies
Global science fiction franchise known across the globe and generations? Check! Well-known gaming studio with resources upon resources at their disposal? Check! Crowds of adoring fans who are playing the game online… not so much. This is where Star Wars Outlaws, the latest game featuring the blockbuster franchise, has come undone. In fact, in the first month of release, Star Wars Outlaws sold a paltry 1 million copies.
Much of the game’s woes arrived at launch with a plague of bugs that needed tweaking. Many would have assumed that most studios had learned their lesson by this point, with titles like Cyberpunk almost sending their developers under by releasing unfinished games. At release, low scores and ratings ensued, and social media was ablaze with scorn.
Bugs and glitches aside, the game also tended to lack much of the fine detail expected. Even speeder bike racing was clunky.
The mini-games included the gambling title Sabaac, but apart from this, they mostly relied on the same old cliches of lockpicking and slicing. In a modern age where classic casino games like the ones at casinosonline.ph are loved by many, Star Wars outlaws could have taken cues from games like GTA and Red Dead Redemption, where gambling titles and mini-games were an integral part of the story. Titles like blackjack and poker were instilled in the game, much like Gwent in The Witcher. Even Fathier Betting, included in the game and much like horse racing or betting on F1, was the most tedious mini-game imaginable.
The Results of a Poor Release
As a result of its poor release, Assassins Creed Shadows, by the same studio, has been pushed back to February 2025 from a November 2024 release date. This suggested that the game was far from finished but set for release anyway until the Star Wars debacle. Assassins Creed’s last outing, Mirage, managed to hit the five million mark within three months of release.
Some lessons can also be learned on how to market a game. In the early stages when the game was announced, there was a lot of hype surrounding the title. However, as time wore on this began to dry up when gameplay videos lacked any real substance, other than the standard Star Wars fare of lightsabres and Wookies. It failed to capture the imagination of the audience, showing that even though gamers love these established franchises, they don’t want the same old stuff spoon-fed to them.
Upon release, socials were filled with videos of bugs, glitches, and poor stealth sections. Ubisoft moved to patch this, but the proof was in the pudding.
What Will The Upcoming Patch Fix?
The first patch for the game has just gone live. This aims to address some of the main issues. This focuses on cinematic mode, speeder bike races, and stealth mode.
In some of the camera shots, the 21:9 mode did not work on consoles. This meant a cropped view when the screen defaulted to its cinematic mode. This has been rectified.
When it comes to Star Wars, speedbike races are up there with lightsabre battles as things you really can not afford to get wrong. Even trying to get on a bike was troublesome in this game. In addition to increasing the response and reaction times when the bike is called, its sensitivity has also been addressed. This means you won’t go hurtling into the sky at the glance of a wall.
Stealth mode was one of the main bugbears users had. The AI has been improved drastically. This has included looking at positioning, interactions, patroling, and camera detection. These are bread and butter that should have been looked at way before release. An earlier patch failed to address the issues, and it is hoped this will rectify them.
The patch is a large one, at 5.6 GB at the top end. This shows just how much fixing is needed in the game. Ubisoft has also tried to cushion the blow by announcing a host of free updates to the title, to entice players who may have been put off by the initial game offering. There are those who believed the game was fine upon release and have come to accept a few bugs on launch for titles. The damage could already be done. The Star Wars universe has a passionate fanbase. It remains to be seen if Ubisoft can claim them back. Only this can make Star Wars outlaws a success.