Star Wars Outlaws rolls out more changes and fixes in bid for more buys

Ubisoft today rolled out new updates for its recent action-adventure title, Star Wars Outlaws, alongside the launch of its Wild Card story DLC. The new fixes address multiple concerns from players about the game’s combat and stealth while also improving AI, all in the name of punching up the title ahead of the holidays by Ubisoft’s own admission. The game also launches today on Steam.

The most significant change to the game is the removal of forced stealth, meaning players won’t automatically fail objectives if they’re spotted by enemies. Enemy AI has also been beefed up, and players will be more clearly alerted if characters have spotted them while sneaking. Enemies also have weak points to “reward strategic gameplay,” and Kay can now carry pick-up weapons and two-handed weapons in more situations. Developer Massive Entertainment is also retuning the facial animations along with more graphical upgrades.

Ubisoft candidly admitted, in its recent earnings call, that Star Wars Outlaws performed far below the expected mark, especially given it was from a successful intellectual property. As a result, it shifted its financial expectations for the year — which caused the company to take a stock hit — and delayed its next triple-A title, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, to February 2024. Ubisoft is also exploring “strategic options,” according to CEO Yves Guillemot, with one such option allegedly being to take the company private.

The company also planned to improve Star Wars Outlaws with a series of patches to capitalize on holiday sales: “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.” Massive replaced the game’s director, Julian Gerighty, with Drew Rechner, who promised the update would be about “celebrating and embracing player choice.”