Ubisoft’s Star Wars: Outlaws was supposed to be their galactic redemption arc—an open-world adventure in a galaxy far, far away. Instead, it’s looking more like a crash-landing into the Sarlacc pit of bad sales and worse excuses.
Rather than owning the stumble, Ubisoft’s recent earnings call saw them lobbing blame in every direction but inward. According to Windows Central, the French publisher cited changes to Steam’s algorithm as a disruptive factor, suggested shifting player sentiment may have soured reception, and even hinted that broader economic uncertainty played a role. If they’d had another five minutes, we might’ve gotten a shoutout to Mercury retrograde or an errant solar flare.
“Market reception was impacted by ongoing platform adjustments and changing player sentiment,” said an Ubisoft spokesperson.
The community, predictably, is having none of it. “It’s wild to blame the crowd when you’re the one who forgot your lines,” one Redditor posted under a now-viral thread titled: Ubisoft Has Entered Its “Gaslight the Galaxy” Era.
Let’s be clear—Outlaws wasn’t doomed from the start. It had potential. Players were hyped for the scoundrel fantasy, for ship combat and stealth heists in the Star Wars underworld. But what they got was an undercooked, bug-riddled game with shallow systems and side quests so repetitive they felt cloned.
Meanwhile, indie devs and other AAA titans are out here winning hearts by doing the unthinkable—listening to players. Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3 launched without a microtransaction in sight. Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma II may have had rough edges, but at least it didn’t blame Steam for them.
The kicker? This isn’t Ubisoft’s first excuse-laden rodeo. XDefiant, their shooter-that-wasn’t, suffered multiple delays and vague messaging. Skull and Bones has been in development longer than some MMOs live. And don’t get us started on The Division Heartland.
If Ubisoft really wants to course-correct, they’ll need more than a scapegoat. They’ll need to rebuild trust the old-fashioned way—by making games that work, respecting their player base, and maybe not trying to Jedi mind-trick us into thinking it’s all our fault.
