In an investors meeting earlier this week, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot (who recently nepo hired his son) wasasked to explain why Star Wars Outlaws underperformed. In response, he said, “Outlaws was released at a time when the brand that it belonged to was in a bit of choppy waters.” He also added that “the game still had a few items that needed to be polished” and that though that polish was added within weeks of release, it “did affect sales volumes”.
Presumably, Guillemot was referring to Star Wars when he said “the brand”. I think he’s right, I just also think he’s talking about the wrong brand.
What Went Wrong With Star Wars Outlaws?
Guillemot likely came up with this response because it was at a shareholder Q&A, and he couldn’t well say that it was Ubisoft’s fault and that they borked it. He is partially right, though. It’s hard to deny that Star Wars has been in a weird place since Disney bought LucasFilm. Disney has made full use of the IP to flood its Disney+ platform with endless Star Wars television shows, most of which are not very good.
But to imply that this media oversaturation made Star Wars Outlaws sell badly is quite silly. Sure, there’s a constant drip-feeding of Star Wars media in the modern landscape, but people love Star Wars video games.Star Wars Jedi: Survivorwas, according to EA, a commercial success. And Survivor has a lot in common with Outlaws. Bothlaunched buggy, and both starred original characters, though Survivor was, to be fair, a sequel.
It’s not even true that the oversaturation of Star Wars means Star Wars media can’t succeed – just look at Andor.
It’s easy to say that having to play as an original character turned people away from Outlaws, but the truth is more nuanced than that. Cal Kestis is successful enough to have theme park merch, and he was plucked out of nowhere. In contrast, Kay Vess was a fairly milquetoast protagonist despite being a criminal, and the game washit by a wave of anti-DEI hatred. It’s also easy to say that the bugginess turned players away, but again, the truth is more nuanced than that. Yes, bad word of mouth probably edged players who were on the fence out of ever getting the game, but that’s not necessarily a game-killer – again, just look at Survivor.
Ubisoft Is The Problem
The problem with Outlaws isn’t Star Wars. It just wasn’tthatgood a game. It was a pretty cut and dry experience that made a few tweaks to the typical open-world formula and had great Star Wars-y vibes, but it wasn’t anythingthatspecial. It was basically Watch Dogs but reskinned and with factions you could please or piss off.
The problem is Ubisoft. If any brand’s reputation has taken a beating over the last few years, I’d say Ubisoft is in a far worse place than Star Wars is. It’s facedsexual harassment scandals. It doesstupid NFT stuff. Its open-world formula has worn on players for years, because everyone is tired of playing the same game over and over. People see an Ubisoft game and in their mind, they picture themselves wandering around an empty open world, checking boxes off a list while a monkey claps cymbals together inside their skulls.
It doesn’t even matter that Outlaws was developed by Massive Entertainment, which made that Avatar game people seem to like. All Ubisoft studios are just Ubisoft to the layman gamer. People see the Ubisoft name and say, well, I already know what to expect, because Ubisoft games are like war – they never change.
Add to this recipe a high price, which only helps to bolster Ubisoft’s reputation as a money-grubbing company, as ifthe quadruple-A stuff about Skull and Bones wasn’t enough. Then add that Outlaws was released on Ubisoft Connect first and Steam months after release. Then add perhaps the most important thing: Star Wars Outlaws didn’t do bad at all! It sold a million copies in its first month. Ubisoft probably overprojected sales numbers because it was a very expensive game to make.
Star Wars Outlaws didn’t fail, but Ubisoft did – at correctly identifying the game’s flaws and taking accountability for them. Yves Guillemot blamed Star Wars, but the call was coming from inside the house.
