Star Wars Outlaws Underperformed Due to the Brand Being in “Choppy Waters,” Says Ubisoft CEO
As successful as Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been for Ubisoft, “clearly” outperforming Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in players and spending, it’s in stark contrast to Star Wars Outlaws. Launched on August 31st, 2024, Massive Entertainment’s open-world action-adventure ultimately fell short of expectations, reportedly selling one million units by October.
While several reasons have been provided for its underwhelming performance, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot also called out the overall strength of the brand in a new shareholder meeting (via Game File). When asked about its “failure, in terms of sales,” he replied that outside of design issues, it “was released at a time when the brand that it belonged to was in a bit of choppy waters.”
Which isn’t incorrect, but titles like Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, released in 2023, performed well despite being in a similar situation. Then again, it was the sequel to the highly acclaimed Jedi: Fallen Order, whereas Outlaws served as a completely new IP.
Star Wars Outlaws is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It received numerous updates since launch, improving stealth, combat, and more. Two story DLC packs are also available in Wild Card and A Pirate’s Fortune. Massive hasn’t indicated whether more content will be released, but creative director Julian Gerighty has already shifted to work on Tom Clancy’s The Division 3.
