Star Wars Outlaws story trailer will debut next week

Brace yourselves, Star Wars fans: A new trailer for Ubisoft's upcoming Star Wars Outlaws is set to debut on April 9.

Ubisoft described the reveal as the "story trailer world premiere," which is interesting because a world premiere trailer that provided at least the outlines of the story rolled out in 2023: Kay Vess, scoundrel, freighter-owner, friend to furry creatures who don't speak English, finds herself entangled in the war between the Empire and the Rebellion as she seeks to dig her way out of a bad situation. Sounds a little familiar? Hey, it's Star Wars.

The new trailer will presumably offer a little more clarity about exactly how Kay ends up in whatever trouble is chasing her, who she'll be dealing with on her adventures, why people in the cantina are shooting at her, and what her "way out" of whatever trouble she's in might be. 

Yes, it's fair to say that based on what we've seen so far, Star Wars Outlaws looks extremely derivative in the ways this series tends to be. But I hold out some hope that it'll find a way to do its own thing, kind of like Brian Daley's Han Solo Adventure novels, which I loved. Admittedly I was like 12 at the time, and the presence of Imperial and Rebel forces throughout the earlier Star Wars Outlaws trailer suggests that it won't stray quite so far from the familiar core canon as Daley did. But even so, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next week's trailer will set up something at least a little bit different.

Even if its smuggler story proves familiar, Outlaws hopes to stand out with its worlds. Based on the wide open environments of last year's guided demo, Outlaws is a fully-fledged sandbox game—more open, it seems, than 2023's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. It's also a Star Wars game not starring a jedi, which is neat.

We'll find out more next week: The Star Wars Outlaws story trailer is set to go live at 9 am PT/12 pm ET on April 9, on YouTube.