Ubisoft revealed a new short-term roadmap on Friday for Star Wars Outlaws following a surprise announcement that it would be overhauling its development process because of weak sales.
A Ubisoft spokesperson called the Outlaws launch “softer than expected” in a statement to investors earlier this week, and promised that it would be implementing updates to polish the game and “improve the player experience” in the hopes it’ll sell more copies this holiday season.
For the roadmap posted on X (formerly Twitter), the team explained that it would be putting its focus on bug fixes first, followed by quality-of-life changes over the course of October to get ready for its first story pack, called Wild Card, on November 21. The developers will release another update after the launch to add combat and stealth improvements and new contracts for hero Kay Vess.
“Our team is currently working hard to address your feedback and deliver new content,” the post reads. “More title updates will be heading your way in the coming weeks.”
Our team is currently working hard to address your feedback and deliver new content.
More title updates will be heading your way in the coming weeks along with the release of our first story pack on November 21st.Stay tuned for more information soon. pic.twitter.com/3mapFT2Pyx
— Star Wars Outlaws (@StarWarsOutlaws) September 27, 2024
Outlaws launched at the end of August to mixed reviews from critics and players. We at Digital Trends loved the world design but felt it lacked the depth of other Star Wars games — and even some of Ubisoft’s other open-world RPGs. Many complaints discussed the stealth gameplay, with some sections having an “instant fail” mechanic that would force you to start over. There have also been performance issues, and the developers have been working since launch to update the experience.
In response to the reaction to Outlaws, Ubisoft opted to delay the release of its next title, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, to February 14, 2025, for extra polishing. PC players also got some additional good news: that both Shadows and Outlaws will be playable via Steam instead of Ubisoft directly.
Assassins Creed Shadows is also getting rid of the season pass model. Outlaws was the subject of some controversy when its season pass was launched, as it gave buyers access to an optional Jabba the Hutt-centric mission that wouldn’t be available elsewhere. It also hiked the price up from the now-standard $70 to $110 for the game with season pass included, which got you the two planned DLC story packs and three days of early access.
CEO Yves Guillemot also confirmed that the company will be conducting an audit of the company’s development process in order to move toward a more “player-centric approach.”