Star Wars Outlaws Sales Disappoint

Summary

• Star Wars Outlaws is underperforming compared to 2023's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
• Ubisoft's stock suffered a significant drop 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 launch, player dissatisfaction with the combat and stealth mechanics significantly impacted the game's 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, triggered a sharp decline 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 the game's prospects, pinning their hopes on planned post-launch DLC.

Further dampening these hopes, a report by VGC and former GamesIndustry.biz journalist Christopher Dring revealed Star Wars Outlaws' underperformance extends beyond general sales, with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor outselling it. While precise sales figures remain undisclosed, Respawn Entertainment's single-player sequel clearly surpassed Star Wars Outlaws in sales. In Europe, Star Wars Outlaws recently ranked only 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 highly anticipated sequel to the successful 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 and engagement with Cal Kestis's latest 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 slated for Spring 2025, bringing back the popular Star Wars: The Clone Wars character Hondo Ohnaka.