Let me tell you about Ubisoft's 2024, because wow, it was a rough one. As a gamer who was genuinely excited for Star Wars Outlaws, I was part of that initial hype wave. But looking back now, in 2026, the story of this game is a masterclass in how high expectations can crash into a wall of reality. The numbers don't lie: in the European market, Star Wars Outlaws only managed to scrape in as the 47th best-selling game of the year. That's a stunning underperformance for a title with the Star Wars name and a massive marketing push. To put that into perspective, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which came out way back in 2023, was still outselling Ubisoft's shiny new open-world adventure a year and a half later. Ouch.

This wasn't just a single misstep; it was the final blow in a series of disappointments for Ubisoft throughout 2024. Remember XDefiant? That live-service shooter that's now set to shut down in June 2025. And Skull and Bones? The game with a colossal budget that was touted as a "AAAA" experience but failed to make waves. By the time Star Wars Outlaws landed, it felt like the final nail in the coffin for a really tough financial year. You'd think teaming up with one of the biggest sci-fi brands on the planet would be a guaranteed win, but for Ubisoft in 2024, it just... wasn't.

🚀 What Went Wrong? The Launch Was a Technical Mess

Here's the thing about Star Wars games: they usually do well. Look at Respawn's Jedi series—critical darlings and commercial successes. So, what happened with Outlaws?

As a player who booted it up on day one, I can tell you: the launch was rough. We're talking about:

• Game-breaking bugs that would soft-lock progress.

• Clunky controls that made piloting your speeder or engaging in combat feel like a chore.

• A general lack of polish that was shocking for a AAA release.

The result? A middling Metacritic user score of 5.3. That's a score from the players, the people who paid for it, and it speaks volumes. Ubisoft did scramble to fix things with patches and DLC updates, but by then, for many of us, the trust was broken. A bad first impression in gaming is incredibly hard to recover from.

📊 The Sales Window Excuse Doesn't Fully Hold Up

Now, some might argue, "Well, it only came out in August 2024! It didn't have a full year to sell!" And that's true. But let's be real. Look at other late-2024 releases, like Astro Bot in September. That game soared. The shorter sales window doesn't fully excuse Outlaws when you see what a polished, well-received game can achieve in the same timeframe.

The fact that Jedi: Survivor was still outperforming it in 2024 is the real kicker. It shows that players, burned by a buggy launch, simply chose to spend their money and time on a trusted, stable experience from a different publisher. In the age of endless backlogs and live-service games demanding attention, a rocky launch is often a death sentence.

🔮 Our Take: Ubisoft's 2025 Hinges on Assassin's Creed Shadows

So, where does this leave Ubisoft as we look ahead? The company's challenges go way beyond one underperforming Star Wars game. Their entire 2024 led to some serious strategic soul-searching.

The big beacon of hope now is Assassin's Creed Shadows. But even that project tells a story of tension. The game has been delayed three times. The latest report pins the launch for March 20, with Ubisoft stating they needed the time to "allow the team to better incorporate the player feedback." That sounds responsible, but after 2024, it also reads as a company that is terrified of another high-profile failure.

The performance of AC Shadows will be absolutely pivotal for Ubisoft's trajectory in 2025. A success could signal a real turnaround, a return to form. But another underperformance? That could seriously exacerbate this already tumultuous period for the publisher.

📈 By the Numbers: Star Wars Outlaws at a Glance

Let's break down the official specs and scores, because the data tells its own story:

Metric	Detail
OpenCritic Top Critic Avg	75 / 100
Critics Recommend	67%
Metacritic User Score	5.3
Release Date	August 30, 2024
Platforms	PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Switch 2 Port	Released September 4, 2025

See that gap? A decent 75 from critics, but a brutal 5.3 from users. That's the definition of a disconnect, and it's almost always tied to technical state and player experience at launch.

💭 Final Thoughts from a Player

Looking back from 2026, Star Wars Outlaws feels like a cautionary tale. It had all the ingredients for success: a beloved IP, a talented studio in Massive Entertainment, and the Snowdrop engine capable of beauty. But it was served half-baked. In today's market, where players have more choices than ever, you simply cannot afford a messy launch. Trust is the most valuable currency, and Ubisoft spent a lot of it in 2024.

Now, all eyes are on Assassin's Creed Shadows. Will it be the polished, captivating experience that wins players back? Or will it add to the list of disappointments? As gamers, we want Ubisoft to succeed—they've given us incredible worlds to explore in the past. But after Outlaws, they're on probation. They need to prove that they've learned their lesson: a great concept needs an equally great, and stable, execution. The future of one of gaming's biggest publishers might just depend on it. 🎮✨