Star Wars Outlaws' Jabba's Gambit mission requires season pass— pray they do not alter the deal further

Stevie Bonifield
·3 min read
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Star Wars Outlaws Jabba the Hutt mission locked behind paywall.
Star Wars Outlaws Jabba the Hutt mission locked behind paywall.

If you were looking forward to the Star Wars Outlaws Jabba the Hutt missions, you're going to need to pay up. Ubisoft is making the highly-anticipated "Jabba's Gambit" mission a day one season pass exclusive, which will require players to pay at least $40 extra on top of the $70 price for the base game.

Why does this single-player game have a season pass? Is it even worth buying? Here's a look at the controversy surrounding the Star Wars Outlaws Jabba's Gambit mission.

Star Wars Outlaws "Jabba's Gambit" mission locked in season pass

Star Wars Outlaws includes day one season pass paywall
Star Wars Outlaws includes day one season pass paywall

As the first open world Star Wars game, a lot of people are looking forward to finally playing Star Wars Outlaws in August. Unfortunately, one of the most highly-anticipated missions in the game is locked behind a pricey season pass that's only available for the gold and ultimate editions of the game.

This disappointing update was revealed on Ubisoft's season pass page for Outlaws, which shows the Jabba the Hutt mission as a day-one season pass exclusive. The season pass is currently not available for the standard edition of the game. If you want to play it, you'll have to shell out at least $109 for the gold edition or $129 for the ultimate edition to unlock all the game's content.

The gold and ultimate editions of Star Wars Outlaws also unlock two DLCs that will be released sometime after launch. On day one, though, they just give you a few days of early access, a handful of cosmetic items, and a ship or two. So, the Jabba the Hutt mission is currently the big selling point for these expensive editions of the game.

Why does Star Wars Outlaws have a season pass?

The full version of Star Wars Outlaws is going to cost you
The full version of Star Wars Outlaws is going to cost you

If you were excited about the Star Wars Outlaws Jabba the Hutt mission, I wouldn't blame you for being frustrated about this news. A lot of players are wondering why Star Wars Outlaws even has a season pass considering it's a single-player game.

It's not uncommon for single-player titles to release upgrade editions that include some DLC. However, in this case, Ubisoft is locking an important mission behind that "season pass" paywall. It's not DLC. It's a mission that's set during the story of the main game, but only players with enough real-world cash will be able to play it.

The most obvious reason for a move like this is simply for Ubisoft to make more money off this game. There will also be in-game purchases in Outlaws, according to the game's rating information. So, it's clearly being heavily monetized.

Considering how excited fans were for the "Jabba's Gambit" mission, Ubisoft may be hoping it will pull in even more money for the game. They could also be attempting to get players to subscribe to Ubisoft+ instead since this $17.99 per month subscription gets you access to the ultimate edition of Star Wars Outlaws.

Regardless, it's no surprise fans are frustrated with this news. Star Wars Outlaws is already a very pricey game at $70 for just the base content. Forcing players to pay $40 or even $60 extra to access one of the most exciting missions in a single-player game, on day one no less, is a move even Han Solo wouldn't try.

As the Mandalorian might say, this is not the way.

We'll have to wait and see whether or not it's worth paying up to get the gold or ultimate edition of Star Wars Outlaws, which is currently available for pre-order and comes out on PS5, Xbox X/S, and PC on August 30, 2024. Stay tuned for more news and updates.

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