Summary
- Star Wars Outlaws is underperforming compared to 2023's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
- Ubisoft's stock price significantly decreased following Star Wars Outlaws' August 2024 launch.
- Negative player feedback regarding combat and stealth mechanics contributed to the game's poor reception.
Adding to the challenges facing Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft's open-world title is reportedly being outsold by 2023's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Despite initially positive reviews upon its August 2024 release, player dissatisfaction with the combat and stealth mechanics significantly impacted its performance. While Ubisoft addressed these issues through updates, they proved insufficient to reverse the negative trend.
This underwhelming reception translated into disappointing sales, falling short of Ubisoft's expectations, as acknowledged in September. The game's underperformance, coupled with its launch on August 27, 2024, led to a sharp drop in Ubisoft's stock price, raising concerns about the publisher's financial stability and sparking discussions about a potential privatization. However, Ubisoft and developer Massive Entertainment remain optimistic about the game's future, pinning their hopes on planned post-launch DLC.
Further dampening these hopes, a report by VGC and former GamesIndustry.biz journalist Christopher Dring revealed that Star Wars Outlaws is not only underperforming but is also being outsold by Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. While precise sales figures remain undisclosed, Respawn Entertainment's single-player sequel clearly outperformed the open-world title. In Europe, Star Wars Outlaws recently ranked 47th in 2024's best-selling video game list.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Outselling Star Wars Outlaws
Several factors likely contributed to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's success over Star Wars Outlaws. Jedi: Survivor, a sequel to the already popular Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, received overwhelmingly positive reviews upon its April 2023 release. A subsequent PS4 and Xbox One update further boosted its popularity.
Conversely, Outlaws struggled to gain traction despite ongoing updates and story DLC from Massive Entertainment. The first expansion, Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card, released in November, featured Kay Vess alongside Lando Calrissian. A second DLC, Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate's Fortune, is slated for Spring 2025, promising the return of the beloved Hondo Ohnaka from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
