2023's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Outsold Ubisoft's Outlaws in 2024

Not shocking as while i like Outlaws Jedi Survivor is a far better game. Also helps its a sequel to a popular game and that people just prefer Lightsabers to blasters.

47th for as Star Wars game is terrible.

I intend to play it one day, but I've got no urgency about it. The longer I wait the better the sale

That moment when EA makes a better star wars game than Ubisoft.

Not really surprising. Outlaws is OK and jedi survivor is great so it's no surprise survivor has performed better...but once outlaws hits the sales as ubisofts games always do I expect it will sell a lot more units.

I thoroughly enjoyed Outlaws, far more than Survivor. To each their own I guess…

I still have to play both. Honestly looking forward to playing them when I take the plunge but I have to save for Indy when it comes to PS5.

"It's a surprising statistic, as we would have thought the impetus of the IP itself would have accounted for more copies sold".

That's just it though. Despite common opinion there is actually a step below hate and that is apathy. Star Wars is a damaged brand to the point a lot of people just collectively went "meh" and moved on. The hype for this game away from sites such as these was tepid to say the least.

@ATaco It failed because it was mediocre and received poorly, end of discussion. The game is a 75 on OpenCritic.

Also worth noting survivor had some deep sales in 2024. Think I picked it up for £15

I am agreeing with conspiracy, that French brothers and Tencent are smashing company to ground to push out all other investors soon and then with buy-out they would bring company back to Private status. There is some shady political game in background.

Just shows how many people are still sticking with last gen consoles.

Ouch. No surprises though. Outlaws is okay but that's just it... Okay. Nothing too exciting, boring protagonist, okay story nice once get stuck into it, and nice world to explore but still just okay.

@ATaco and what's this trend then please explain? Outlaws flopped because it got so so reviews, the Ubi formula is clearly really stale now and that its a technical mess and still is.

I loved Fallen Order but couldn't get into Survivor. Really enjoyed Outlaws and overall prefer Kay and Nix over Cal and BD-1 as protagonists.

All ubisoft games follow the same formula. As such they're always a deep sale only prospect for me. Ubisoft really should have taken risks with this IP given the current situation. They need a huge shake up.

Splinter Cell might be the next game of theirs I buy at more than half price. Fingers crossed. I'd kill for a classic R6 or GR game. Something methodical and rewarding strategy and patience.

@ChrisDeku You can claim it's mediocre if you wish, but 75% positive reviews is not "received poorly". Does anyone actually know how numbers work? You know that's out of a possible 100%, right??? Why does a game have to be a life changing experience for people to dare to admit a game could be good or even just average? Average does not equal bad. Honestly I've seen lots of hate, but probably equal amounts of people who really enjoyed it. I can't get over how when dozens of games journalists call a game decent but not fantastic, people interpret that as "oh so it's garbage?", like that's ridiculous.
Also the game didn't "fail", it probably has great sales & ubisoft was just expecting more numbers just from the star wars IP attached.

@DennisReynolds
I'm surprised we all have it figured out... except for Ubisoft. "Ubisoft formula doesn't work anymore." You'd think they'd they'd be the first to realize this...but they don't. This is a massive IP that we're attaching to this and it only strengthens my case. How? Let's take a look at a past example.

Concord. Beaten to death topic right? But stick with me. At the time of it's death the excuse was "Well hero shooters are just oversaturated, nobody wants to play those anymore." And then Marvel Rivals comes out and sets records for player base and success. Now you could say "Well yeah, but Marvel is a huge IP of course it was going to do well!!"

Ok, let's come back to Outlaws. "But Star Wars is a huge IP, this should have been easy money!" Except if wasn't. I'll put it in the simplest terms. One studio provided what gamers actually wanted and the other still refuses to listen. Even now we continue to blame every other thing but the most blatant and the only reason I tiptoe around it is because you're just waiting for buzzwords and trigger words, which I won't say. Now you can choose to listen to my opinion or discard it and we can continue to watch more "sure things" flop and flounder.

@yohn777 a 75 on Opencritic is the 60th percentile, which means 40% of all games reviewed had higher score, I would classify that as being received poorly for a game of its size and scope.

Aside from the differences in quality and gameplay mechanics (shooty shooty I can get everywhere, lightsaber wielding not), there is the

„curse of Ubisoft pricing“:

Everyone knows that after a few months, Ubisoft games become dirt cheap and get the needed patches, so many people just wait. And to shift enough copies, Ubi must react with these dirt cheap prices.

The delays of AC Shadows to improve the quality on release indicate that Ubisoft wants to break out of this cycle, and I wish them success with that!

The better game sold more, who would of thought...

It's an Ubisoft game. I guess a lot of people like me are waiting for the inevitable 95% off sale their games always have.

@ATaco Again what's the trend? Come on tell me don't be shy.

Concord flopped because it was a $40 hero shooter with bland designs and offered nothing new. Marvel Rivals is a success because its free, has great takes on the characters and is Marvel. People wanted Marvel Rivals from the moment it was revealed while no one wanted Concord from the off. You want a hero shooter to succeed it has to be F2P and needs a USP both of which Concord lacked.

@DennisReynolds
Then why did no one want this game? It's Star Wars, after all. Also it's great that you figured out the formula to ensure a successful hero shooter, Sony should hire you.

Yes, one is a good game and the other isn't.

Ubisoft has been releasing the same game for 20 years, just with a different skin/IP. Minor variations. They also have a history of scandals. But for me, the point where I truly knew this was an evil company was when they took away games which were gifted to me (games with gold) such as Grow Up and put it behind a failing paywall (ubisoft+) . You don't take away a gift. That's just evil. In return, I never ever will spend a penny towards them anymore. Can't speak for others, but I have my principles. Can't wait for the woke to go broke. Their last 4 games flopping is poetic justice to me.

The jedi games are incredible so im not surprised

@ATaco So what if its SW the property is not exactly on fire right now is it and the last film was 6 years ago and the D+ shows are pretty mixed. I gave you the exact reasons it bombed most of which apply to Avatar as well that also bombed for Ubi.

Tell me the reasons you think Outlaws bombed though. Stop avoiding the question.

Outlaws was alright tbh. But I cant see Ubisoft being the same company at the end of this year, if AC Shadows launches poorly and by that I mean in a shoddy state after all the delays / or is just kinda rubbish, then its big trouble time for Ubisoft really.

I actually preferred outlaws! Loved there were no Jedi’s and how it weaved around the characters of the first films. High production value too. It was much better than most would have you believe imo.

@DennisReynolds
Good point about Star Wars not being great lately. Most media has actually been following the same trend, the shows and movies are just as bad as this game was about it. I really hope you'll eventually start catching onto what I mean because as I said, I'm not going to use buzzwords just so you can shut me down by labeling me as this or that.

@ATaco No i want you to tell me why Outlaws failed. It is because its main character is a woman? If that was the case why didn't Horizon, Stellar Blade and many more bomb? Why is Tomb Raider a franchise?

I enjoyed both but the EA games are better IMO, it has been said above but it also helps that Survivor has lots of deep sales in 2024.

Ubi can make good games, PoP was a GOTY contender for 2024 and won on some sites but hey ho they shut that studio down - makes no sense but I suppose it wasn't commercially successful

@Mostik it's kind of ironic that Prince of Persia broke the Ubi design pattern, pretty much received universal praise and they decided to cancel a sequel and go back to the rinse and repeat formula they always get called on.

It's a pity it wasn't picked up by more people as its a real gem. I imagine they either see Ubisoft and pass or just decide to wait for the inevitable sale down the line.

I picked up Jedi survivor for £16 new but outlaws is still around £50 which I wouldn't pay for a game that needs an online connection to install

@Weebleman Spot on mate, couldn't agree more.

Even more frustrating when you see people moan about the same old games/formula then they get something a bit different and don't buy it 🤷‍♂️

@Dodoo high production

I thought outlaws was OK but not great, I enjoyed Kay and nix and thought the other chars were good. Jedi survivor though was amazing and I really enjoy playing a Jedi and I thought the story was alot better than outlaws. I think Shadows will be a defining moment for UBI and I want shadows to do well, I'm looking forward to it anyway. I guess we've just got to sit back and watch this space and see if UBI is sold to Tencent after Shadows.

Outlaws got some unfortunate press, just like AC Shadows. Not to mention Ubisoft has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately.

But if we just focus on the games, it’s like Ubisoft is cursed lately. Skull & Bones, Avatar, Outlaws, AC Mirage… all these were supposed to be huge. Underperformance or just flat-out cancellation like The Division: Heartland or vaporware like Beyond Good & Evil 2. Their best received game was PoP: The Lost Crown and reports are that barely anyone bought that.

For a smaller developer their middling sales would be considered acceptable, but their budgets are very large (and some would say bloated and too large) so these games need to sell much better to keep profitability. Big publishers release a bomb every now and then, but Ubisoft has had quite a string of underperforming games. They are victims of their own success. The best “Ubisoft formula” games are now not made by Ubisoft. Other developers have taken the formula and made it better (Sony being chief among them).

Whenever Ubi has tried to innovate to do something new, fans are upset. Whenever they have tried to stay the same, fans are apathetic. 😅

@J_e_f_f__D well it is on the pro at least! Didn’t have any issues and it looks very nice.

Though admittedly I didn’t play it at launch.

30 quid at Argos so I took a punt. Happy at the moment. Different to the EA games which is for the better. A right old mix of gta, creed, tomb raider and the like, space bit isnt amazing but suffices. Goes to show reviews and perceptions.

Let's hope Ubisoft doesn't need a catastrophic loss with AC shadow to start making good games again.

I care less and less about Ubisoft, but I'd hate to see more studio closures.

When good games go on Sale for 10 bucks, they tend to sell. They could make Outlaws 1$ and I'm still not touching that garbage

I enjoyed Outlaws, but Jedi Survivor was absolutely the better game.

@themightyant Yeah, those are my thoughts as well. Although, to give them the benefit of the doubt, they did try a few new things and tried to get some new IP going around that time - Watch Dogs, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Skull & Bones, XDefiant, etc. But a lot of these attempts felt like reskins of their own franchises or imitations of other developers’ games. In the case of S & B it seems like the project was just hugely mismanaged and missed the window when it could have done better.

I think Outlaws has enough potential, as it seems like a lot of people have enjoyed it. I wouldn’t mind trying it but there’s just too many games now; it’s not 2014 and a studio can’t churn out the same basic game every year (well… except for FIFA, NBA2K, Madden, and Yakuza 😂) or else it will be buried by all the other similar releases, live service lifestyle games, and copious new releases coming from emerging markets. I don’t think Ubisoft has adjusted quickly enough.

As a Star Wars fan, I was considering buying Outlaws, but when major gameplay issues were being brought up as needing to be patched, I figured I have plenty of other games to play and so chose to spend time elsewhere until the game is in its best and final form (and cheaper). 😄

@ChromaticDracula I'm the same mate. I'm currently playing Outlaws and prefer it to the EA title. To each their own, eh?

That a deeply discounted game that was on sale for the full year bettered the sales of one at full price for just a third of the year could only be a news article on push, who love to give the baying mass what they want, a reason to bash.
' They are like trained seals, toss em a fish and watch them slap their fins together'

It's interesting I don't see many people talking about pricing.
I saw the reviews and thought I'd wait. I have since heard they have improved the game massively so I thought I would support it next time it's on sale. But then it goes on sale and it's still really pricey to buy including the season pass - which would be the "complete" edition.
I think their pricing model needs an overhaul too, it's too much to ask consumers to spend over €100 on a game that gets "average" reviews. It's a lot for any game!

People were way too hard on this game.

I really enjoyed it. Probably my favourite SW game actually.

The game was really fixed through the updates and the game decisions they made with it that upset gamers were fixed with the update. I just beat the game and it was a blast!

@ItsBritneyB_tch yeah I just beat it. After all the updates it's like a different game

@Alexface I heard about all the updates so I got it like a month ago for $40. It was definitely worth it!

I intend to play at some point but boy, Ubi are in trouble. They have one of the most problematic delivery pipelines of any major publisher.

Really enjoying outlaws as are 4 or 5 of my mates. Way better than the internet made out and we are all in agreement it’s a better game than survivor. It’s nice not to be lightsaber and force heavy for a Star Wars game. Great universe and now patched it’s a very good game. Others hate it. Each to their own

@Alexface In all fairness, you're not obliged to get the complete edition, or any other edition beyond the standard. Why would you? We'd all be better off if everyone just bought standard editions of games and only purchased extra content once they'd actually decided they liked what they've played and wanted more.

@DennisReynolds I liked outlaws and got the platinum. However, I hadn’t played a Ubisoft game in years and have never played an assassin’s creed game for more than 20 mins so it didn’t feel super old to me. However, I think Outlaws was a perfect storm type of failure. Disney’s continual stream of mediocre to poor Star Wars content, Ubisoft’s current reputation, and a cultural shift in the largest market (U.S.) all worked together against it. Too bad to I thought it was a solid 7.5 - 8//10.

Both great games independent from what one may think about star wars. Maybe survivor sold more because you could buy it under 20€ and I often saw it bundled with the ps5 on Amazon.

@IamJT Yeah its a fine enough game but as you said it kinda had everything going against it, if it released as is but 3 or 4 years prior it would have done far better.

@Titntin it’s 100% this. Someone in this comment section saying they won’t play this trash for free. Suggesting that they’ve never played it yet they know it’s trash. I’ve played it and it’s definitely not. Even before the patches it was ok. Now though it’s good. Some people will never believe this is not complete trash though 😂 each to their own

Wow, the game with the male protagonist did better than the game with the female protagonist, hmmm...

@DennisReynolds both Stellar Blade and Tomb Raider have good looking/sexy female protagonists, that's why they didn't bombed specially Stellar which is very about fanservice lol

The Marvels, Madame Web, Unknown 9 Awakening, Dustborn, Forspoken, Concord, Saints Row reboot, Suicide Squad, Ghostbusters 2016, Resident Evil 2022 Netflix series, Star Wars The Acolyte, Velma series, etc -> they all had "empowered women protagonists made for modern audiences" and look they state they're in now, flop or cancelled.

@ashipaw Funny when people cherry pick because i can do that to and i'm just going to pick one film and one film only actually maybe two and that is Barbie and Wicked both massive successful films and both about female empowerment.

I came to Jedi: Survivor late when it arrived on Game Pass. It's a very good game, one of the few I've ever played start-to-finish on Game Pass. Zero interest in a Star Wars game without light sabers.

Of course it did. Survivor was most likely better. I'm not even a Star Wars fan and I played Survivor.

When I first saw the trailer for Outlaws I said to myself: this is what I want to play. I bought it on release day and had a great time playing it. It's not the game of the year, but I didn't mind. Anyway, Sabacc even with all the shenanigans is awesome. In the future when all the DLCs comes out I plan to play it again.

Survivor is a better game, so not shocking. Outlaws is really enjoyable, but its polish and gameplay just aren't up to survivors level.

Jedi Survivor is one of my favorite games recently, it's incredible. Haven't had a chance to play Outlaws yet so I won't be judging it, but Jedi Survivor set the bar really high for Star Wars games.

I think Survivor had more "sale" time. (on sale for a longer time). Outlaws was released in August. Survivor is a complete game. There were a lot of reasons, and I don't think it's because it's a better game. I like them both for different reasons.

@themightyant while I agree with you, it’s ironic that outlaws is the game that finally changes ubi’s open world formula!

Sorry Ubisoft had funds been available SW Outlaws would have been a day one purchase.

@ChrisDeku It's crazy we live in a world in which most people seem to consider 75/100 "mediocre" or "poor". Yes, 75 is not "great" or "excellent, but it's definitely a "good" score – and better than the vast majority of games.

You made a typo in the CEO’s name. It’s Yves Guillemot.

@idiotthechef It’s better than exactly 60% of all games reviewed on OpenCritic. Bear in mind that Over 18000 games released on Steam last year. Not every game will pass the threshold of 4 reviews, or even get one official review, but there is a lot of absolutely dross released every year.

Star Wars: Outlaws was the 341st highest rated video game or expansion released last year as per OpenCritic. I doubt the game is downright unplayable or anything, but an average game is going to struggle in such a ridiculous market as we currently have. There’s a reason why so many games are getting cancelled and studios shut down forever.

There's a lot going on here that people are missing.

Much of the negativity directed at Outlaws wasn't about the game itself but what many perceived as predatory pricing structures. Ubisoft mishandled this aspect, earning significant backlash as a result. This might have been a deliberate strategy to push players toward Ubisoft’s subscription service, and it worked—there was a noticeable spike in Ubisoft+ subscriptions at the time of Outlaws’ release. However, these subscriptions aren't counted as game sales, which distorts the picture. Meanwhile, Jedi: Survivor spent much of the year on deep discounts that allowed it to capture sales from a larger pool of potential buyers still waiting for the right price.

Like it or not, Outlaws experienced a huge amount of review bombing even before its release. A lot of misinformation circulated, often spread by individuals who admitted they hadn’t even played the game. Much of this noise centred on criticisms of "wokeness" and DEI themes that simply weren’t there. I saw two main themes in the reviews - people either praising the game for its atmosphere and open-world design or criticising it with superficial complaints—like Kay’s appearance or breast size. For that reason, I find the aggregated user scores unreliable.

The criticism about bugs was also overblown. Yes, the AI in the open world wasn’t good, and the speeder could occasionally glitch when colliding with environmental geometry, issues which have now been resolved. Beyond that, the game ran well and delivered a fantastic story. Kay was a compelling, well-rounded character whose development throughout the narrative was a highlight. Complaints about stealth mechanics being too challenging were silly and I'm disappointed the developers bowed to pressure and changed the instant fail mechanic.

We also need to consider that Disney’s mishandling of the Star Wars franchise is diminishing its appeal rather than enhancing it.

Was Outlaws an excellent game? That’s subjective, but in my opinion, yes. It had flaws, and technically Jedi: Survivor was the more polished game. However, I found Survivor overstayed its welcome - something many recent games are guilty of. Searching for collectibles just isn't good content. In contrast, Outlaws left me wanting more while still feeling satisfied with the experience. The atmosphere in Outlaws was, without question, far superior to Survivor.

It’s a shame that Outlaws performed as poorly as it did. While Ubisoft might be reaping what they sowed, the developers, who clearly poured effort into creating a deeply Star Wars-inspired experience, didn’t deserve the negative reception. Given Ubisoft’s tendency to discount their games not long after release, maybe next year we’ll be discussing how Outlaws outsold the new releases of 2025.

@RS1 the developers didn’t deserve the negative reception.

I didn't realise Massive Entertainment got any backlash? their Snowdrop (game engine) is excellent imho so I was suprised reading some negative feedback on this aspect, guess I'll see for myself one day. Your post was well thought out and some really good fair points to be made.