Star Wars Outlaws director Julian Gerighty has admitted he’s “a little disappointed” with the reviews for Ubisoft’s game, but has pledged to improve it.
Gerighty said GamesRadar that Star Wars Outlaws — which received a 7/10 rating in IGN’s review and currently has a rating of 76/100 Metacritical — brought him and the band “a level of pride, happiness and fulfillment,” but he still wanted a better critical reception.
“I’m a little disappointed with Metacritic,” Gerighty said. “Of course, the recognition from the press and critics is very important to us, but the players really connect with what we’ve done.”
He continued: “It was such a joy to see the incredible images that were being captured and shared. And I think that’s solid evidence that this is an experience that hasn’t been done before in Star Wars, where you can enter this world and enjoy virtual tourism.”
Star Wars Outlaws is the first open-world game in the Star Wars universe, and a season pass has already been announced for it, making post-launch support inevitable. However, Gerighty clearly wants to add additional gameplay elements.
“This is going to be a game that millions of people will play for years and years, and we’ll never stop improving it,” he said. “Well, that’s a lie. We’ll probably stop improving it, but today I’m not thinking about stopping improving it.”
Ultimately, it will be up to Ubisoft to decide how much time it devotes to Star Wars Outlaws, and the publisher has already faced criticism from some fans for its practices around the game.
It’s the latest example of an industry move to charge a minimum of $109.99 to those wanting to play the game on its launch date of August 27, 2024. Those willing to fork out the standard $69.99 would have to wait until August 30 to start playing.
Those who paid more didn’t all get to enjoy polished gameplay either. Some PS5 players were forced to restart their games after a last-minute update and received only a modest compensation from Ubisoft as an apology.
The previously mentioned Season Pass has also been met with criticism because, in addition to providing access to story expansions that are scheduled to release later, it locked away some content that would otherwise be ready for release at launch.
Ubisoft shares have fallen in value following the release of Star Wars Outlaws, with some analysts predicting lower-than-expected sales for the game. Ubisoft has yet to comment on its results.
Ryan Dinsdale is a freelance reporter for IGN. He’ll be talking Witcher all day long.
