The Star Wars Outlaws release date sends us back to a galaxy far, far away this summer

Star Wars Outlaws
(Image credit: Ubisoft)

The Star Wars Outlaws release date has been announced, confirming a summer excursion to a galaxy far, far away - for real, this time.

A new trailer confirms that the Star Wars Outlaws release date is set for August 30, 2024, with pre-orders available now. A pre-order bonus, the Kessel Runner Bonus Pack - harking back to Han Solo's infamous Millenium Falcon achievement - offers some cosmetic additions to protagonist Kay Vess' ship and speeder bike.

As for the trailer itself, we start to get a bit more of a sense of what Star Wars Outlaws is all about. We already knew that it would be set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but now we've started to get a clearer idea of what's set to happen. Kay is trying to make a name for herself in the galaxy's famously lawless Outer Rim while the Empire is distracted fighting the Rebellion. Unfortunately, in doing so she runs afoul of crime lord Sleero.

Slightly more fortunately, she comes across someone who seems to want to help her pull off the classic 'one last job' - to secure her freedom, all Kay will have to do is rob Sleero blind and make out like a bandit. That 'someone' is Jaylen - although given he looks an awful lot like classic Star Wars video game hero Kyle Katarn, Jaylen might not be all that he makes out to be.

Elsewhere, there's plenty of peeks at the wider Star Wars universe; a cynical Mon Calamari warns Kay about the perils of her new life; a brush with Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine seems to stitch pretty close in with clips of Han Solo's carbonite form and what seems like a very intimate encounter with a Sarlacc; and an array of both new and new and familiar faces rounds out what amounts to a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than you'll find between here and Mos Eisley.

Outlaws is set to continue what's already been a pretty busy year for Star Wars games. The well-received Dark Forces remaster and the somewhat less well-received Battlefront Classic Collection followed last year's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Add that to the likes of The Acolyte, on its way later this year, and it's looking as though 2024 could be a very good year for Star Wars fans.

Star Wars Outlaws tells a tight story across specific locations with "strong, thriving underworlds" – but your reputation could change everything.

Ali Jones
News Editor

I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.