Star Wars Outlaws Sales Disappoint

Summary

• Star Wars Outlaws is underperforming compared to 2023's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
• Ubisoft's stock price significantly declined 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 faced by 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 with subsequent updates, they proved insufficient to reverse the negative initial reception.

This underwhelming performance led to disappointing sales, falling short of Ubisoft's expectations, as acknowledged by the company in September. The game's launch on August 27, 2024, coincided with a sharp drop in Ubisoft's stock price, raising concerns about the publisher's future and sparking discussions about a potential privatization. However, Ubisoft and developer Massive Entertainment remain optimistic about Star Wars Outlaws' long-term prospects, citing planned post-launch DLC as a potential catalyst for a turnaround.

Further dampening this optimism, a recent 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. Although precise sales figures remain undisclosed, Respawn Entertainment's single-player action sequel clearly outperformed the open-world title. In Europe, Star Wars Outlaws recently ranked only 47th in 2024's best-selling video game chart.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Outselling Star Wars Outlaws

Several factors likely contributed to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's superior performance. As a sequel to the successful Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, it benefited from established brand recognition and received overwhelmingly positive reviews upon its April 2023 release. Furthermore, a PS4 and Xbox One update released by EA and Respawn last year rekindled interest in Cal Kestis's adventure.

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 teaming up with Lando Calrissian. A second DLC, Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate's Fortune, is scheduled for Spring 2025 and will include the return of the popular Star Wars: The Clone Wars character, Hondo Ohnaka.