Last week, Ubisoft shared the story trailer for Star Wars Outlaws, its upcoming open-world action RPG. Alongside the new trailer came details about the game's release, including the launch day and pre-order info.
Like other games of this console generation, Star Wars Outlaws will cost $69.99 for the base game. That's pretty much the standard for new games released on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
But what caught many by surprise was the contents of the Season Pass, which is included in the Gold Edition for $109.99 or Ultimate Editon for $129.99.
In detailing the contents of both of these special edition versions of the game, Ubisoft revealed that the Season Pass will offer access to two DLCs released after the game's launch. Again, a Season Pass with post-launch content isn't terribly unheard of these days.
What really got many gamers upset though was the fact that the Season Pass includes access to "Jabba's Gambit." This is an exclusive mission that, according to Ubisoft, is "available at launch."
Naturally, this drew criticism from many as it is basically Ubisoft gatekeeping content behind a more expensive price tag. The argument is that if the content is already created and ready to go at launch, why is it not already included in the standard base price of the game? Why do you need to pay extra to access content that's already been developed?
The price of the Gold Edition of Star Wars Outlaws is $109, which is $40 more than the standard edition of the game. It does come with a few other benefits, such as three days early access and the standard pre-order bonus (a cosmetic pass for your speeder and a cosmetic for the Trailerblazer spaceship).
The Ultimate Edition, which costs $129.99, comes with two additional cosmetic bundles as well as a Digital Art Book.
Interestingly, the Ultimate Edition of the game is also available to anyone who subscribes to Ubisoft+ for $17.99 a month. This means those who are subscribed to Ubisoft's monthly gaming service will get access to the season pass as well as the "Jabba's Gambit" exclusive mission.
The problem many have with this isn't that Star Wars Outlaws will eventually have DLC or post-launch content, it's the fact that this is an exclusive mission that's already going to be available at launch.
Ubisoft has not responded to the backlash of the Star Wars Outlaws season pass or this launch mission. The game is set to release on August 30, 2024.