Headliners: Star Wars Loses Audience, Sales Disappoint

Star Wars Outlaws Underperforms, Outsold by Jedi: Survivor

Ubisoft's Star Wars Outlaws, the franchise's first open-world title, is facing significant challenges. Released in August 2024, the game's sales have fallen considerably short of expectations, leading to a sharp drop in Ubisoft's stock price. This underperformance is further highlighted by reports indicating that it's being outsold by 2023's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

Negative player reception, particularly concerning the combat and stealth mechanics, contributed to the game's poor sales. While Ubisoft addressed these issues with post-launch updates, the damage was already done. The game's ranking as the 47th best-selling game in Europe in 2024 underscores its commercial struggles.

Several factors likely explain Jedi: Survivor's superior performance. As a sequel to the successful Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, it benefited from established brand recognition and positive critical reception upon its April 2023 release. A later update expanding its availability to PS4 and Xbox One further boosted its sales.

In contrast, Outlaws has struggled to gain traction despite ongoing updates and DLC releases. The November release of "Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card," featuring Lando Calrissian, and the upcoming Spring 2025 release of "Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate's Fortune" featuring Hondo Ohnaka, aim to revitalize interest. However, whether these additions will be enough to significantly improve Outlaws' performance remains uncertain.

The disparity in sales between the two titles highlights the challenges of creating a successful open-world Star Wars game, and raises questions about the future of Ubisoft's investment in the franchise.