Since then, however, the developers have rolled out several major patches aimed at improving various gameplay mechanics. So, the big question now is: Is it finally worth your time, and does the new story expansion, A Pirate’s Fortune, build meaningfully on those improvements?

Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room: A Pirate’s Fortune. This story expansion is a pretty short adventure, clocking in at around three to four hours depending on your skill level. Kay Vess, Nix, and their droid companion ND-5 set out to explore the Khepi system, where they team up with none other than the well know pirate Hondo Ohnaka in search of a mysterious treasure hidden within the Khepi Tomb. As you might expect, Hondo is the star of the show, who is equal parts sarcastic, funny, and dubious. Voiced by Jim Cummings, his performance gives the DLC its strongest personality.

The main antagonist is Stinger Tash, leader of the Rokana Raiders, who believes she can uncover the tomb’s secrets and lead her crew to the treasure. The story kicks off with an intriguing setup and a genuine sense of mystery, but unfortunately, the ending didn’t quite land for me. Without spoiling too much, the crew’s efforts lead to an ending that feels a bit underwhelming, leaving me questioning whether the journey was truly worth it. Still, despite the narrative’s lack of impact, Hondo Ohnaka’s presence alone makes the DLC worth seeing through to the end. He carries the entire expansion on his back, and to be frank with you, he’s the reason I stayed invested throughout the DLCs short runtime.

"Despite the narrative’s lack of impact, Hondo Ohnaka’s presence alone makes the DLC worth seeing through to the end."

Just like the base game, A Pirate’s Fortune sticks to the same core gameplay mechanics. If you’re expecting brand new systems and mechanics, you might want to lower those expectations. That said, there are some small additions, like simple environmental traps scattered around environments to keep you on your toes. What really stands out, though, is how much the gameplay has improved overall thanks to post launch patches.

Enemy AI, while still occasionally weird, is noticeably better than it was at launch. Enemies are more aggressive and more likely to suppress you in combat. Sure, there are still rare moments where they’ll ignore Kay even if she’s right next to them (yes, they can be that dumb at times), but these are far less frequent now. Stealth, too, feels tighter, Kay moves more fluidly, and sneaking past enemies feels more focused. However, this isn’t Metal Gear Solid V and Kay isn’t like Snake by any means, but it’s no longer the disappointment it was before. Combat has also benefited greatly from rebalanced damage values, weapons now feel impactful, and the third-person shooting is actually fun. It does make you wonder why the developers didn’t consider a Division 2 style cover system, as that small addition could’ve made firefights even more dynamic, not to mention a tad cooler.

One small letdown is the complete lack of new gameplay mechanics between Kay and Nix. In the base game, Nix can do various actions on behalf of Kay such distracting enemies or flipping switches. For a DLC, it would’ve been nice to see some new interactions but unfortunately there is none. Still, with improved stealth, punchier gunplay, and smarter enemies, the overall experience is finally fun and far less disappointing. Could it have been better? Absolutely. But is it still underwhelming? Definitely not.

A significant portion of the DLC’s gameplay now leans into space battles, which will feel familiar to anyone who played the base game. You’re still managing your ship’s shields, dodging missiles, and taking down enemy targets using the upgrade system as before, but there is one exciting change: thanks to Hondo Ohnaka, you temporarily pilot a Rokana Raider ship, and this is where things get interesting. While the core controls remain the same, the battles are now faster paced and feature two flight modes. In Recon Mode, your wings can be adjusted for faster travel, while Assault Mode shifts the wings horizontally and unlocks heavier weaponry (like missiles) for maximum damage output. A lengthy space combat segment in the DLC lets you control this ship in a visually spectacular and large scale battle, and it’s genuinely amazing. Switching modes mid-combat while dodging attacks and firing out missiles felt fantastic. It’s a shame there weren’t more of these sequences, but what’s here is definitely satisfying.

Star Wars Outlaws, despite a few odd facial animations, was easily one of the best looking games of 2024, especially if you playing it on a high-end PC. It was a graphical stunner, no two ways about that. One of the things I truly appreciated about the base game was its gorgeous open world locales and its superb attention to detail. Each map felt brimming with personality, and thanks to excellent art direction, simply riding through these worlds on your speeder was a treat in itself. Thankfully, A Pirate’s Fortune continues that visual benchmark. While it doesn’t feature new and massive open areas like the base game, the interior environments and atmospheric design, particularly within the Khepi Tomb, look fantastic. From dynamic lighting to various atmospheric effect, the DLC is just as visually impressive and immersive as the base game.

"Each map felt brimming with personality, and thanks to excellent art direction, simply riding through these worlds on your speeder was a treat in itself."

As noted in our original review last year, Star Wars Outlaws felt like a game with a lot of potential, but also one that clearly needed more time in the oven as certain elements just didn’t come together the way they should have. Fast forward to 2025, and after numerous patches addressing core gameplay mechanics, I can confidently say that Outlaws has definitely grown into a pretty solid experience. The Pirate’s Fortune DLC, while flawed in its storytelling, showcases many of the gameplay improvements the developers have rolled out over recent months.

To close off this review, Hondo Ohnaka steals the spotlight, and the short but exciting showcase with the Rokana Raider ship was a memorable highlight. Hopefully, the developers can continue to build on these changes and deliver more gameplay refinements in the future. That said, it’s hard to ignore the reality that Star Wars Outlaws has underperformed where it mattered most: sales figures. If only these improvements had been part of the initial launch, the story of this game might have played out very differently. It was pretty clear that Star Wars Outlaws was rushed out and the results were in front of of us back then. And with that, A Pirate’s Fortune may very well be the final outing for Kay Vess and her companion, Nix.

That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Star Wars Outlaws eventually earns some sort of cult classic status in the future, an experience that was rejected at launch but gradually embraced through word of mouth. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, but personally, I’m glad I didn’t give up on it after its mixed launch. There’s a good game here now, and it deserves to be recognized, even if a little too late.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Of course, the journey is far from easy, as they must explore Kephi Tomb and deal with the Rokana Raiders and their leader, Stinger Tash. The DLC introduces new quests in the Khepi System, the Miyuki Trade League (which offers rewards for the Trailblazer upon smuggling cargo), and much more.

Even without the DLC, Title Update 1.6 is worth checking out since it added new passive systems with gameplay-enhancing benefits for the Trailblazer, free-aiming when on a Speeder, and several improvements to combat and enemy AI. You can also claim a free cosmetic set based on Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.

For more details on Star Wars Outlaws, check out our review. You can also read our thoughts on the first story DLC, Wild Card.

For instance, Kay can now free-aim her blaster while on the Speeder. Transitioning between the weapon and two-handed firearms is also seamless, and there are new Space Contracts to fulfil. The Trailblazer has also received some new “passive systems” for “additional gameplay effects.”

Players can also expect improvements to cover-based shooting and enemy AI. Animation improvements mean going up and down stairs and inclined surfaces will look far better, and Miyuki Traders will now offer passive system upgrades alongside resources.

Check out some changes and improvements below and the full patch notes here (though beware of spoilers). Star Wars Outlaws is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It’s also coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on September 4th.

Title Update 1.6 Notes:

Highlights

• Added the ability to free-fire Kay’s blaster while riding the speeder
• Added the ability to holster and swap between two-handed weapons and Kay’s blaster
• Added the ability to equip new passive systems to the Trailblazer for additional gameplay effects
• Added new space contracts for all players that include multiple challenge types
• Fixed an issue where the Hidden Riches intel could not be completed

General Gameplay

• Improved shooting when behind cover to prevent hitting the environment
• Fixed an issue where certain intel quests could not be completed if intel was found before picking up the quest
• Improved enemy AI when moving to cover/being suppressed
• Fixed an issue where Kay could get trapped when respawning in a restricted room on Toshara
• Improved Kay’s movement animations on stairs and slopes
• Adjusted effects of getting ionized in space
• Fixed space NPCs going “out of bounds” when in combat
• Miyuki Traders have been upgraded to full vendors and now sell passive system upgrades in addition to previous resource items
• Fixed issue where the Ion upgrade of the smoke bomb was inconsistent in ionizing enemies
• Fixed issue where melee finishers sometimes wouldn’t trigger if the blaster is overheated
• Fixed issue where configurations with improved heat capacity from upgrades and gear would risk overheating the blaster if quick switching modules when near the overheat threshold
• Crimson Reign gear set has a reduced cooldown on Stun Shot for each enemy caught within all variants of the Smoke Bomb
• Outlaw Belt has a reduced cooldown and increased duration of the supercooled state when swapping between Kay’s blaster modules. Additional HUD feedback has been added for the duration and cooldown
• Fixed an issue where shields would not protect Kay from direct impact explosive projectiles
• Performance improvements during climbing
• Improved attaching and releasing input when using the grappling hook
• Fixed an issue where Kay would move slowly when aiming during strafing in certain areas
• Kay no longer gains adrenaline during standing jumps on the speeder
• Kay is now thrown off the speeder when hit by a melee attack
• Improved cases where dropping weapons could result in clipping
• Kay now exits scoping when staggered
• Fixed an issue where the Glowlamp would disable when entering vents

Performance

• Fixed an issue where the game could crash when activating FSR3 Frame Gen and Freesync Premium Pro HDR

Graphics

• RTXDI improvements
• Ray Reconstruction improvements

UI, HUD and Settings

• Fixed an issue where a vendor’s purchase screen was unable to be closed when the items list was empty
• Fixed an issue where the incorrect journal entries would be highlighted when hovering over a different entry

Audio

• Fixed an issue where crew members lines would be played at incorrect times

Cinematics

• Improved instances where props were missing/floating in certain cinematics

Camera

• Fixed an issue with camera jittering and clipping while on the speeder
• Worlds, Fauna and Flora
• Fixed an issue where the surrounding environment would not reflect correct time of day
• Fixed an issue where color banding was present in the sky on Consoles

Accessibility

• Added accessibility shortcut allowing high contrast, auto run, and menu narration to be toggled without accessing menus
• Gadget wheel can now be set to a toggle rather than a button hold
• HUD background transparency and colors can now be adjusted
• High contrast UI setting now also affects headings in settings menus
• Gameplay high contrast transparency now affects darker colors more evenly
• Map menu narration now reads whether a location is on another planet
• Fixed an issue where remapping breaks sabacc controls
• Fixed an issue where high contrast mode settings menu preview did not match how the transparency slider works in the game
• Fixed an issue where some HUD icons were hard to see when high contrast HUD was enabled
• Fixed an issue where large HUD text would be larger than its background
• Fixed an issue where autowalk was not available when using a controller on PC, or on consoles
• Fixed an issue where the Trailblazer was not displayed correctly in high contrast mode when damaged
• Auto-vault no longer triggers if the fall will kill Kay

Miscellaneous

• Reduced instances of environmental clothes clipping

The story sees Kay venturing to the Khepi system and encountering Hondo Ohnaka, a fan-favorite from Star Wars Rebels and The Clone Wars. Working together, they venture to Khepi Tomb to seek treasure while fighting off Stinger Tash and the Rokana Raiders.

While a tomb-raiding adventure sounds enticing, there’s also the new Miyuki Trade League. If you work to smuggle goods, they’ll provide new Trailblazer rewards. A free update also goes live alongside the DLC, adding a Nix outfit, Speeder Trophy, and Trinket inspired by Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.

Stay tuned for more details, and check out our review of the first DLC, Wild Card, here.

The mission involves settling an “old debt” that ND-5, Kay’s droid ally, has “neglected.” The Kessel Runner character pack is also available at launch, providing new cosmetics for Kay and Nyx. Next up is Wild Card, the first story DLC launching this Fall.

Though we don’t see any gameplay, the animated concept art showcases the high-stakes Sabacc game that players infiltrate at the behest of the Empire. Kay subsequently teams with Lando to uncover a greater conspiracy in the “most secret and secure part” of Mirogana. Two additional character packs, Hunter’s Legacy and Cartel Ronin, will also launch, but they aren’t revealed.

A Pirate’s Fortune, the second and final story expansion, arrives in Spring. Even less is known about the story, aside from the crew teaming up with pirate Hondo Ohnaka to seek out some treasure and turn their fortunes around.

Star Wars Outlaws launches on August 30th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The Gold and Ultimate Editions include the Season Pass and three days of early access.