Star Wars Outlaws takes rogue Kay Vess on a journey across the planets in search of a major heist that will get her out of the trouble she’s in. Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the Imperial forces are at the peak of their power and will naturally serve as the enemy faction. However, a more integral part of the Outlaws experience are the crime syndicates Kay will encounter and the scum and villainy they involve. Scattered across the galaxy, each one has a story to tell and – more importantly – can be used to Kay’s advantage as you see fit, thanks to the Outlaw reputation system.
Hutt Cartel
Perhaps the most famed of Star Wars’ crime syndicates, the Hutts are led by everyone’s favorite giant slug-man Jabba the Hutt. Alongside Bib Fortuna, Salacious Crumb, and other amusingly named pals, they first appeared in 1983’s Return of the Jedi as the crime lords of Tatooine. Straightforward and unafraid to deal with anyone who plays games with them, they love the galactic credits and the power they bring.
“The idea with the Hutts is that what you see is what you get,” Khavari says. “They’re not afraid to use force, they take what they want, and they’re just incredibly powerful.”
“Their look is definitely inspired by Tatooine,” Jonkers says. “I think what’s interesting is that the Hutts probably have the most dirt and wear on their clothing of any of the syndicates.”
But while the Hutts are based on Tatooine, Jonkers says they “can be found in other places as well. All the syndicates have power that extends beyond the planet they come from.”
Pyke Syndicate
The Pyke Syndicate is a name anyone who’s seen The Book of Boba Fett or the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series will recognize, but don’t expect them to look exactly as you remember them.
“They have a very distinctive look,” Jonkers says. “They’re Pykes, but they’re different from the Pykes you’ve seen in different shows. We really went in a different direction with the color palette. So they have a lot more dark blues, but we also went in a more graphic design. So you’ll see on the helmets and the clothes that they wear, they have different patterns that show what rank they have or what group they’re in. They’re not as organized, I would say, like a military group, but they have different units that have different weapons, different skills, and you’ll see the difference in that.”
Through spice production and trade, the Pykes had amassed a fortune on their homeworld of Oba Diah. But by the time of the Outlaws, the syndicate had spread throughout the galaxy, including the newly formed moon of Toshara.
“The Pike Syndicate is incredibly wealthy and powerful during this time period,” Khavari says. “And we center around their second-in-command, Gorak, who is very much responsible for Pike’s operations on the moon of Toshara. And so while it’s under Imperial control, like the rest of the galaxy, we get to see the corrupt side of it, because the Pykes have worked out a deal with the Empire there, where they can do what they need to do, and the Empire always gets its share.”
The Pykes’ love of luxury and all things shiny, driven by a relentless desire to make a profit no matter what moral boundaries must be crossed, is best demonstrated by the appearance of Gorak.
Scarlet Dawn
As more Star Wars stories are written, the more influence the Crimson Dawn has on the galaxy seems to grow. Led by Lady Qi’ra, Emilia Clarke’s character from Solo: A Star Wars Story, the Crimson Dawn is a syndicate responsible for auctioning off Han Solo’s frozen carbonite wall decoration from the comics – a prize won by Jabba and the Hutts, who outbid the Pyke Syndicate.
“Crimson Dawn, especially when you look at some of the broader media, is doing something very, very interesting that I’ll leave for others to explore and delve into,” he notes. “But that period is very, very important in terms of Lady Qi’ra’s character.”
The gloomy nature of the group is reflected in their appearance, allowing them to easily blend in wherever they go, as well as making their presence known when they wish to make their presence known.
“You’ll be able to find them in certain places, and it’s not always a place that they own entirely,” Jonkers says. “Maybe they’ve taken over a place. Now you can see elements of them on top of something that used to be something else.”
“They’re more fashionable, I would say, compared to other syndicates, and we try to translate that into their clothing as well,” she explains. “The clothes are very practical, but also very clean, cleaner than other syndicates’ clothes, to show that they have access to better materials and maybe that’s part of their style as well.”
Join the clan
The Ashiga Clan is a novel syndicate created by Massive in partnership with LucasFilm, and can be found on the icy planet of Kijimi – one of five playable planets and moons in Star Wars Outlaws, last seen in The Rise of Skywalker. While completely novel to Star Wars canon, those more familiar with the galaxy far, far away may be familiar with the alien species they hail from.
“They’re completely new, but we used an existing species called Melitto for the Ashiga clan, and there are so many different aspects to their existence,” Jonkers explains. “They don’t have eyes, so they use different senses, and it was really interesting to design an entire syndicate that doesn’t use vision. So all of their designs have a lot of tactile elements.
The insect-like nature of the Melitto race not only provided the team with some interesting visual challenges, but also influenced the structure of the syndicate and its goals. While others, such as the Pykes, Hutts, and Crimson Dawn, value money, power, and information as ways to increase their influence, the Ashiga Clan is much more focused on itself and its small enclave in the galaxy.
“The Ashiga clan is really interesting because it has a very strict hierarchical structure,” Kavari tells us. “Each member of the clan serves a larger group under the control of the Ashiga Queen, more so than any other syndicate where you can have a few characters and a few subordinates who operate on their own. In the Ashiga clan, you serve the Queen. And that’s it. And that created a really fascinating dynamic.”
“They have a strict code of honor,” Jonkers adds. “They’re very much like a group mind, and they have one very powerful queen who rules over them. So there’s definitely references to that in the way they organize their locations, for example, which is a bit more like an anthill.
The Ashiga clan is really trying to maintain control of Kijimi, which is a very important city, and really trying to make money off of it. And they’re also a syndicate that you might see less often in different places because they’re so connected to the city. So it’s their power over the city that gives them importance.”
Zerek Besh
Outside of the reputation system is Zerek Besh, a mysterious syndicate that serves as the main antagonist of Outlaws. While you’ll be able to interact with four other criminal gangs and form/break bonds of your choosing as the story progresses, Zerek Besh is a more distant, looming threat. They’re led by Sliro, the man who placed the “mark of death” on Kay at the beginning of the story, forcing her to flee.
“They’re an incredibly rich organization,” Navari says of Zerek Besh. “They have their own agendas and they’re kind of a new player in the galaxy and the syndicates. We really wanted to treat them as if they were a new player on the block. So Kay’s really on the run from them and from Sliro. They’re actively pursuing her, and she’s using the other syndicates to get what she needs to pull off the heist that’ll get her freedom.”
Much about Sliro and his gang remains a mystery for now, and Massive is reluctant to reveal more details about your encounters with them. However, we’ll learn much more about them and why they’re central to Kay’s story when Star Wars Outlaws launches on August 30.
Simon Cardy was once thrown out of a school assembly for calling someone Salacious Crumb. Follow him on Twitter at @CardySimon.
