Star Wars Outlaws will release in 2024 and will allow gamers to play as Kay Vess, a scoundrel trying to make her way in the galaxy who winds up undertaking an important job.
The story will be set in-between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and it will explore the criminal side of the galaxy as the syndicates operate in the Outer Rim. The Empire reigns, but the crime syndicates hold significant power. We catch glimpses of the Pyke Syndicate in the trailers, but we also see Jabba the Hutt, arriving at his palace with Han Solo, frozen in carbonite, in tow.
That ties in to the recent Star Wars comics in a major way, and it’s why this time period is so perfect for Outlaws. In Charles Soule’s War of the Bounty Hunters storyline, Qi’ra and Crimson Dawn re-emerge onto the galactic scene in a major way: by stealing Solo. Qi’ra holds an auction attended by the Rebellion, Empire, Hutts, and more as various factions try to acquire the valuable prize. Jabba winds up with Solo (obviously), but not before Qi’ra turns the crime syndicates against one another as part of her master plan. The rest of the Hutt Council is essentially wiped out, leaving Jabba more powerful than ever, and the syndicates are at war with each other.
It’s in the aftermath of those events that Outlaws appears to take place, and even if the game doesn’t directly reference those events (though I certainly wouldn’t rule it out), it will be picking up on a tumultuous galaxy in which the criminal syndicates are trying to hold on to power while not getting along with one another – even less than usual, that is.
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