Star Wars Outlaws: The Big Preview

This month, 12DOVE is diving into one of the most exciting open world adventures of the year: Star Wars Outlaws. Massive Entertainment has established a reputation for creating highly-detailed playspaces, setting new benchmarks through The Division, its sequel, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. But the studio has set out to deliver something far more ambitious in Star Wars Outlaws – the ultimate scoundrel simulator, designed to let you run riot around the Outer Rim as you fight, steal, and outwit some of the galaxy's most dangerous crime syndicates. 

We visited Massive's headquarters in Malmo, Sweden, for an extensive look at Star Wars Outlaws. It's there where we got new insight into Kay Vess, her companion Nix, and ND-5, fresh details on the sprawling outdoor landscapes you'll be able to race across on your speeder, and info into the blaster gun, trailblazer ship, wanted level and reputation, and exploration systems in the adventure. We also spoke with key creative leads about how Massive collaborated with LucasFilm to bring an original Star Wars story to life, how progression is different from other Ubisoft open world experiences, and so much more. 

The 12DOVE Big Preview of Star Wars Outlaws kicks off with an in-depth cover story exploring how Massive rallied around a single sentence to bring the first open world Star Wars game to life. You can expect more on Outlaws in the coming weeks, with daily interviews and features covering the most exciting aspects of the game to get you set for its release on August 30, 2024 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. 

Cover Story

Building beyond The Division

In this video version of our Star Wars Outlaws cover feature, you'll learn how Massive Entertainment set out to create the ultimate scoundrel fantasy with insight from the developers and a fresh look at the game in action.

Creating an open-world 

Star Wars Outlaws is set to deliver the "first-ever open-world" game set in the Star Wars universe. Learn how Massive approached crafting its galaxy, in which we explore how the developer quickly realized that in order to deliver a "true Star Wars open-world experience," it would need "to go beyond planet surfaces". 

Introducing a new moon 

Star Wars Outlaws will introduce a new moon to the Star Wars universe. Hear how Massive created its signature savanna moon Toshara: from its inspirations, the dangers we can expect to face when we land there, and more.  

A Star Wars story

In Star Wars Outlaws, we'll follow Kay Vess as she tries to navigate the crime syndicates of the underworld with her trusty friend, Nix. Discover how Massive crafted Kay and Nix's story, in which you'll learn that the team used story rooms where they found themselves asking, "what would it be like for any of us to meet Jabba the Hutt?". 

Tricks of the scoundrel trade 

 When it comes to big sprawling adventures, we've become accustomed to seeing progression come in the form of skill trees, XP, and levelling systems. But Star Wars Outlaws is going in a different direction. At the Massive studio in Malmo, Sweden, we learned all about the reasoning behind the decision to break away from traditional RPG progression features by instead having us learn from elusive experts. Not only has this been designed to reflect one of Star Wars' storied traditions, but you'll discover how it's geared towards rewarding player curiosity and making every skill we learn "an adventure in itself".  

Fresh faces in the galaxy

For Star Wars Outlaws, Massive brought to life a fresh cast of rogues in a galaxy far, far away. Learn how the team set out to create new characters to be very authentic but also very new, with insight into some of the meaningful details of Kay, Nix, and ND-5's design. 

Making the Trailblazer 

As Kay Vess, we'll be getting behind the wheel of our own ship as we venture out into the stars. Read all about how Massive approached the Trailblazer's design, the unlikely source it was inspired by, and how we'll be able to customize it to our liking. 

Bring your blaster 

As any would-be scoundrel knows, you won't get very far with a good sidearm. From giving us different modules and abilities to play around with, to offering the option to temporarily use an enemy's weapon, find out how Massive set out to equip us with an iconic blaster in Star Wars Outlaws that also delivers "a full-fat shooting experience". 

Jabba the Hutt 

What is it like to bring established and iconic characters to life in a new Star Wars game? We sat down with Massive Entertainment to discover how the team made Jabba the Hutt for Star Wars Outlaws - from old school audio techniques to behind-the-scenes experiences, and more. 

A seamless open-world ambition

Creative director Julian Gerighty and game director Mathias Karlson discuss the challenges of creating a seamless open-world in Star Wars Outlaws, while technical director Stephen Hawes breaks down how Massive is trying to tackle the transition from space flight and planetary exploration. 

Wanted system

In Star Wars Outlaws, you won't just have to grapple with your reputation and the various crime syndicates. Should you get on the wrong side of the Empire, you'll also be dealing with a wanted level. See how you'll be able to "mess with" the GTA-style wanted system to make the "ultimate open-world playground type of self-imposed challenge. 

Star Wars Outlaws impressions

You've heard a lot about Massive's push to deliver the ultimate scoundrel fantasy, but how does that actually look and feel? After playing through three Star Wars Outlaws missions, escaping Imperial space stations and stealing valuable relics, we quickly fell in love with Kay and her companion Nix. 

Upcoming Star Wars games

Star Wars Outlaws may be the game we can't stop thinking about, but it isn't the only
one set in a galaxy far, far away. Learn about all of the upcoming Star Wars games, from Uncharted co-creator Amy Hennig's new venture to Quantic Dream's Old Republic-set adventure.

Best Star Wars games

You may need to wait a few more weeks for Outlaws to launch, but that doesn't mean you can't get your Star Wars fix elsewhere right now. And if you need a hand deciding on where to invest your time, use our guide to the best Star Wars games that are still great to play today.