When does Star Wars Outlaws take place in the timeline?

Aug. 30, 2024

Star Wars Outlaws' story is definitely influenced by the films' timeline

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Star Wars Outlaws timeline places it very definitively within the films, narrowing down a universe that spans thousands of years at this point, with different eras, factions, powers, and levels of technology.

So exactly when in the canon timeline Star Wars Outlaws is set makes a significant difference to Kay Vess' story: after all is the Old Republic, the Empire or the First Order currently in control? Are the Jedi still a dominant force? Is the galaxy going through one of its increasingly rare moments of peace? We’ll explain when Star Wars Outlaws takes place below, and what the implications for the narrative are in mainStar Wars timeline

When is Star Wars Outlaws set?

How to shoot on a Speeder in Star Wars OutlawsHow to break Star Wars Outlaws rocks and wallsStar Wars Outlaws Wanted levelStar Wars Outlaws outfits and armor

Star Wars Outlaws is set between the original series films Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Star Wars timeline scholars place the exact year as3 ABY(after the Battle of Yavin, the official method by which the Star Wars community frames the timeline of events).

Taking place at this point in the Star Wars canon has some meaningful impact on the story and the setting, with the following to keep in mind as you play:

When the game takes place can provide some context about characters that may or may not show up. I won’t spoil who appears, but we all know how cameo-happy Star Wars as a franchise can be these days, and Outlaws has a few faces from the films and expanded media. Keeping the timeline in mind can help you better understand their motivations, importance and where they are in their personal journey.

Going into further detail than this risks spoilers toStar Wars Outlaws, but having these facts and dates in mind before you go into the narrative will help players better understand the context in whichKay Vess' criminal journey takes place. You might also notice that a couple of theStar Wars Outlaws planetsthat appear feature in the later sequel series, like Cantonica and Kimiji. This means that players are seeing them prior to their appearance in the recent films, and can see how they’ve changed accordingly.

For a more in-depth discussion of the narrative, check out ourStar Wars Outlaws review, or find out where it sits on our ever-changing list of thebest Star Wars games.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.

After 3 years, these Legend of Zelda fans have finally finished decompiling the code of Majora’s Mask to help modders and speedrunners - but there’s “still tons of work to be done”

How to complete the Indiana Jones cipher machine code puzzle on the battleship

Star Wars actor Daisy Ridley’s new heist movie gets first trailer, and it looks Die Hard mixed with Mission: Impossible