Ubisoft’s release calendar for 2024 has been mixed to say the least. While it did deliver on XDefiant, it is a free-to-play live service first and foremost. So it does not fall in its premium releases for this year. The latter is Star Wars Outlaws. While initially anticipated with Massive Entertainment developing, it has evolved into a project not sought out for with the pricing of its purchase options and the execution of the open world.
In our review for Star Wars Outlaw, we issued a 7/10 score. “Star Wars Outlaws is visually stunning, but beneath its beauty, there are some rough edges. Despite these flaws, I remain optimistic that Star Wars Outlaws will improve significantly with further updates and community feedback. There’s a lot of potential for growth, especially with possible DLCs and patches.”
According to Ubisoft’s latest financial report, the performance of Star Wars Outlaws has been less than desired. As a result, it decided to release the game on Steam this November. This follows the decision to delay Assassin’s Creed Shadows for February 2025; verifying a Steam launch as well.
Additionally, despite solid ratings (Metacritic 76) and user scores across the First Party and Epic stores (3.9/5) that reflect an immersive and authentic Star Wars universe, Star Wars Outlaws initial sales proved softer than expected. In response to player feedback, Ubisoft’s development teams are currently fully mobilized to swiftly implement a series of updates to polish and improve the player experience in order to engage a large audience during the holiday season to position Star Wars Outlaws as a strong long-term performer. The game will be available on Steam on November 21.
“Our second quarter performance fell short of our expectations, prompting us to address this swiftly and firmly, with an even greater focus on a player-centric, gameplay-first approach and an unwavering commitment to the long-term value of our brands,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot issued in a statement from the investors filing.
“Although the tangible benefits of the Company’s transformation are taking longer than anticipated to materialize, we keep on our strategy, focusing on two key verticals – Open World Adventures and GaaS-native experiences – with the objective to drive growth, recurrence and robust free cash flow generation in our business, he added.”
And this is not the first time a Star Wars game debuted the return of a publisher’s titles to Steam. Back in 2019, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order signified the comeback of Electronic Arts launching its titles day & date on the Valve storefront. You can read the full report by heading here.
Are you surprised by Ubisoft jumping to Steam for day one releases?
Star Wars Outlaws launches on Steam November 21, 2024; out now for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Source: Ubisoft
