Star Wars: Outlaws is set between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi

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Ubisoft's open-world Star Wars game takes place at the height of the original trilogy

Star Wars Outlaws
(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Star Wars Outlaws is set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Ubisoft has confirmed.

The official description for the game describes Outlaws as the "first-ever open world Star Wars game, set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Explore distinct planets across the galaxy, both iconic and new. Risk it all as Kay Vess, an emerging scoundrel seeking freedom and the means to start a new life, along with her companion Nix. Fight, steal, and outwit your way through the galaxy’s crime syndicates as you join the galaxy’s most wanted."

The trailer already made clear that the game takes place in the Rebellion era, and there's a very brief shot of Han Solo frozen in carbonite that very much shows this takes place in the immediate aftermath of The Empire Strikes back.

That's a pretty short span of time in the Star Wars universe, as there's less than a year in between the two films. The time period has thoroughly been explored in the modern Star Wars canon, especially in comic books. The Shadows of the Empire storyline, which includes one of the most iconic video games in the franchise, was also set during this period, but that was excised with the rest of the old canon years ago.

Star Wars: Outlaws was previously announced as simply 'the Ubisoft Star Wars game,' but today's Xbox Games Showcase was our first proper look at the game's story and setting.

We're set to get more information on Outlaws at Ubisoft Forward later this week.

Dustin Bailey
Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.