Massive Entertainment released today the first “Dev Update” for Star Wars Outlaws. In it, we read a few promising and elevating words from Creative Director Drew Rechner.
Even after an underwhelming start for Star Wars Outlaws and some negative reviews, I still think that Massive and Ubisoft have a plan for long-term support for the game.
I wish that I don’t have to keep reading and hearing things like “continue to improve experience over time”. I wish this improved experience would be delivered on launch. An issue that plagues almost every newly releasing game today.
Now, let’s look at the positives.
The point and ultimate goal of this Dev Update #1 is clear, to hype up the players and to confirm the team’s commitment to this game. On November 21st, we will get Update 1.4, which they promise to be the biggest yet.
The three main points where they seek to improve the game are open combat, stealth mechanics and character controls.
I personally am happy with the depth of customizations available to PC players (like myself), but controllers and Console players definitely need more love and attention in this department.
Update 1.2 significantly improved some areas of the gameplay. For me the most memorable was the Speeder riding experience. After this patch, we no longer crash and burn after tripping over the tiniest pebble on the road.
Next, Update 1.3 brought further improvements and some design changes to missions when it comes to approach, options and stealth.
It would be great to have some unique and diverse mechanics that will result in scaling the difficulties being more fun and engaging for the player. Making the enemies able to one-shot you while becoming bigger and bigger bullet sponges as you up the difficulty, is not a modern and fun way to challenge yourself.
On November 21st, it is Massive’s best chance to not only redeem themselves in the eyes of the unhappy fans, but also to further delight the ones who enjoyed Star Wars Outlaw’s base game and are hungry for more.
The first DLC, titled “Wild Card” will launch on the same date and not only that, but a whole new playerbase will potentially get access to the game as it becomes available on Steam for PC.
Not everyone likes to install a million launchers on their PCs. I have a few friends that I know are always waiting for a Steam release to play a game, even if this comes months (or some times years) after its original launch.
I am very much looking forward to 1.4 and the new story. I have already played through the game three times and have replayed many quests and locations a lot more than that for our coverage of the game. I will do another playthrough most likely, sure. Just because I am curious to see how much they will improve the base game.
But what I am most interested in is the DLC. We still know surprisingly little about the new story added with this DLC. And this is a good thing:
Kay is hired to infiltrate a high-stakes Sabacc tournament, but as she crosses paths with the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, she soon learns that another game is being played.
When this first story pack is released, Season Pass owners will also get the Hunter’s Legacy Bundle and the Cartel Ronin Bundle with additional outfits for Kay and Nix plus cosmetics for Kay’s speeder and her ship, the Trailblazer.
Ubisoft
While waiting for 21st to come, why not finish your collection of Sabacc Shift Tokens and beat all the High Rollers.
We will have the fullest and most in-depth coverage of the DLC in all of its aspects. If you are worried you may miss something or don’t know how to find/do/complete something, check back frequently VULKK.com after 21st.
Below is the full text of the Dev Update #1 message as published on ubisoft.com on November 4, 2024:
Outlaws,
We’d like to welcome you to our first Dev Update, focusing on bringing you regular insights from our developers as we continue to support Star Wars™️ Outlaws past its launch.
Reflecting on Launch
We have been listening to, gathering and actioning players feedback and we see there are key areas where we can elevate the game experience to better meet your expectations. As you’ve seen with our previous Title Updates, we’ve already made changes to the game and look forward to continuing to improve the experience over time. We would like to reinforce that our priority is giving you the best Star Wars experience possible,
To speak more on this topic is Drew Rechner, who has recently taken the helm of Star Wars Outlaws as Creative Director!
Outlaws,
I’m very excited to be stepping into the role of Creative Director on Star Wars Outlaws and to be working with the incredibly passionate team here at Massive Entertainment along with our talented co-development studios around the world and Lucasfilm Games. I would like to personally thank you, our community, for your positive response to the game. We see and love all the fan arts, comments, and videos you’ve created around the game, and it continues to provide joy and inspiration to the team. We truly hope you’re enjoying your journey across the Outer Rim with Kay and Nix thus far.
I also want to take the time to say that we hear not only your positive feedback, but your constructive feedback as well. Thank you for sharing with us and helping us make the game even better. Today, I want to share with you the next priority areas we are looking to address to ensure that Star Wars Outlaws is the best experience possible for you.
From before launch and continuing into post-launch, we have been gathering data from and listening to you. This takes place not only formally through our analytics, user tests, reviews and media feedback, our Star Wars Outlaws Bug Reporter, crash reports, and other mechanisms, but also informally when we see your YouTube videos and Reddit, Discord or other social media posts. We deeply care about your experience with the game, and use all the data and feedback possible to see the friction points you are encountering, what you’re enjoying, and where we can further improve certain elements that matter the most to you.
Your feedback has already resulted in three Title Updates in which we’ve focused on fixing some of your biggest concerns such as bugs, reducing major friction points in some key missions particularly around stealth, adjusting the speeder camera and collision, and much more. That being said, there are three key areas in which we’re looking to improve the game even further.
The first key area of improvement to the game is combat where we see a real opportunity to add more depth and excitement to the experience, further rewarding your tactics and precision. Our second key area is stealth which is not only about improving the readability and consistency of enemy detection, but also providing choice in how you want to approach each encounter. Finally, our third key area of focus is centered around the character controls, which means improving the reliability of cover, increasing the responsiveness of climbing and crouching, and generally improving the consistency of the controls overall.
You can expect to see more details about how we will be celebrating and embracing player choice more than ever before, whether it’s sneaking through encounters, going in blasters-blazing, or everything in-between. We will provide more specific details about the changes to these areas and more in the upcoming weeks as we provide further updates to you. All of this will culminate in the release of Title Update 1.4 which will release on November 21st alongside the Steam launch and first story pack, Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card.
To our players, thank you again for your support and feedback, and we hope you will enjoy continuing exploring the galaxy with us. And if you’re new to the game, there’s never been a better time to experience the Outer Rim with Kay and Nix!
As said by Drew, we’re hard at working to bring you many requested changes to Title Update 1.4, which will be our biggest update yet, coming your way on November 21st!
As always, keep an eye on our socials for more from us, and be sure to give us your thoughts on Twitter, Instagram and start a conversation with us in our Official Discord.
Thank you again for your feedback and excitement!
The Star Wars Outlaws Team
A few words on Drew Rechner:
The Dev Update’s text presents him as someone “who has recently taken the helm of Star Wars Outlaws as Creative Director“.
Actually, he has been in this role for eleven months now, since January. And he has been a part of Massive and Ubisoft for a decade now, climbing the ladder from a Game Designer.
