Star Wars Outlaws: The Big Preview
Jul. 10, 2024This month we are diving into Star Wars Outlaws, the highly-anticipated open-world Star Wars game from Massive Entertainment
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This month, GamesRadar+ is diving into one of the most exciting open world adventures of the year:Star Wars Outlaws. Massive Entertainment has established a reputation for creating highly-detailed playspaces, setting new benchmarks through The Division, its sequel, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. But the studio has set out to deliver something far more ambitious in Star Wars Outlaws – the ultimate scoundrel simulator, designed to let you run riot around the Outer Rim as you fight, steal, and outwit some of the galaxy’s most dangerous crime syndicates.
We visited Massive’s headquarters in Malmo, Sweden, for an extensive look at Star Wars Outlaws. It’s there where we got new insight into Kay Vess, her companion Nix, and ND-5, fresh details on the sprawling outdoor landscapes you’ll be able to race across on your speeder, and info into the blaster gun, trailblazer ship, wanted level and reputation, and exploration systems in the adventure. We also spoke with key creative leads about how Massive collaborated withLucasFilmto bring an original Star Wars story to life, how progression is different from otherUbisoftopen world experiences, and so much more.
In the weeks before much of the world was plunged into lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Massive Entertainment was given the opportunity to deliver a once-in-a-lifetime pitch to Lucasfilm: an open world Star Wars, where you’re free to define your own place on the outer edges of the galaxy. In the years since, Star Wars Outlaws has morphed into one of the most anticipated open world games of the generation. Driven by a deep passion for Star Wars, informed by lessons learned from working on The Division series, Outlaws is ambitious by design. Here, key creative leads discuss their vision for Star Wars Outlaws, and discuss the single sentence that rallied Massive around the concept.
Building beyond The Division
In this video version of our Star Wars Outlaws cover feature, you’ll learn how Massive Entertainment set out to create the ultimate scoundrel fantasy with insight from the developers and a fresh look at the game in action.
Star Wars Outlaws is set to deliver the “first-ever open-world” game set in the Star Wars universe. Learn howMassive approached crafting its galaxy, in which we explore how the developer quickly realized that in order to deliver a “true Star Wars open-world experience,” it would need “to go beyond planet surfaces”.
Star Wars Outlaws will introduce a new moon to the Star Wars universe. Hearhow Massive created its signature savanna moon Toshara: from its inspirations, the dangers we can expect to face when we land there, and more.
In Star Wars Outlaws, we’ll follow Kay Vess as she tries to navigate the crime syndicates of the underworld with her trusty friend, Nix. Discoverhow Massive crafted Kay and Nix’s story, in which you’ll learn that the team used story rooms where they found themselves asking, “what would it be like for any of us to meet Jabba the Hutt?”.
When it comes to big sprawling adventures, we’ve become accustomed to seeing progression come in the form of skill trees, XP, and levelling systems. But Star Wars Outlaws is going in a different direction. At the Massive studio in Malmo, Sweden, we learned all about the reasoning behind thedecision to break away from traditional RPG progression features by instead having us learn from elusive experts. Not only has this been designed to reflect one of Star Wars' storied traditions, but you’ll discover how it’s geared towards rewarding player curiosity and making every skill we learn “an adventure in itself”.
For Star Wars Outlaws, Massive brought to life a fresh cast of rogues in a galaxy far, far away. Learn how the team set out tocreate new characters to be very authentic but also very new, with insight into some of the meaningful details of Kay, Nix, and ND-5’s design.
As Kay Vess, we’ll be getting behind the wheel of our own ship as we venture out into the stars. Read all abouthow Massive approached the Trailblazer’s design, the unlikely source it was inspired by, and how we’ll be able to customize it to our liking.
As any would-be scoundrel knows, you won’t get very far with a good sidearm. From giving us different modules and abilities to play around with, to offering the option to temporarily use an enemy’s weapon, find outhow Massive set out to equip us with an iconic blaster in Star Wars Outlaws that also delivers “a full-fat shooting experience”.
What is it like to bring established and iconic characters to life in a new Star Wars game? Wesat down with Massive Entertainment to discover how the team made Jabba the Hutt for Star Wars Outlaws- from old school audio techniques to behind-the-scenes experiences, and more.
Creative director Julian Gerighty and game director Mathias Karlsondiscuss the challenges of creating a seamless open-world in Star Wars Outlaws, while technical directorStephen Hawes breaks down how Massive is trying to tackle the transition from space flight and planetary exploration.
In Star Wars Outlaws, you won’t just have to grapple with your reputation and the various crime syndicates. Should you get on the wrong side of the Empire, you’ll also be dealing with a wanted level. See how you’ll be ableto “mess with” the GTA-style wanted system to make the “ultimate open-world playground type of self-imposed challenge.
You’ve heard a lot about Massive’s push to deliver the ultimate scoundrel fantasy, but how does that actually look and feel? Afterplaying through three Star Wars Outlaws missions, escaping Imperial space stations and stealing valuable relics, we quickly fell in love with Kay and her companion Nix.
Star Wars Outlaws may be the game we can’t stop thinking about, but it isn’t the onlyone set in a galaxy far, far away. Learn about all of theupcoming Star Wars games, from Uncharted co-creator Amy Hennig’s new venture to Quantic Dream’s Old Republic-set adventure.
You may need to wait a few more weeks for Outlaws to launch, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get your Star Wars fix elsewhere right now. And if you need a hand deciding on where to invest your time, use our guide to thebest Star Wars gamesthat are still great to play today.
I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I’m not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.
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