Star Wars Outlaws Ultimate Edition for $130 continues an industry trend of paying lofty sums for early access, and players don’t like it: “Why is everything monetized”

Star Wars Outlaws
(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Star Wars Outlaws has an expensive $109.99 'Gold Edition' offering three-day early access, and single-player game fans aren't best pleased.

Yesterday, a brand new Star Wars Outlaws story trailer revealed an August 30 release date for Ubisoft's new shooter - just hours after the release date leaked online. Ubisoft also unveiled the $109.99 Gold Edition of the new game, and the $129.99 Ultimate Edition of Star Wars Outlaws alongside the story-centric trailer and release date.

The Gold Edition offers three-day early access on August 27 as well as the game's Season Pass for DLC, while the Ultimate Edition includes all that as well as the Sabacc Shark and Rogue Infiltrator Bundles in-game item bundles, plus a digital art book for good measure. It's these two editions that have drawn the ire of some fans on social media.

"Sigh. Why is everything monetized... I want a single-player game. One-time payment and I am good..." writes one Twitter user. "Getting sick of these monetized barriers," another Twitter user added. Others, meanwhile, are just poking fun at the high price tags for both premium editions of Star Wars Outlaws, in addition to the base version retailing for $70.

"Anytime I see charts like these it just makes me think: 'I can’t wait to buy the full game for $20 years later,'" wrote another Twitter user, referencing the fact that Ubisoft games are nearly always regularly on digital storefront sales like the PlayStation Network roughly a year later. 

Right about now, for example, Assassin's Creed Mirage is on sale for just under $30 on PS5, nearly half its original asking price, and countless other Ubisoft games are routinely cycled in and out of storefront sales. Perhaps many will be waiting for a similar price drop to play Outlaws, potentially waiting until next year in 2025 to play the shooter.

Read our big Star Wars Outlaws interview to see how the game tells a "tight story" set across "strong, thriving underworlds."

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

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