Ubisoft has put a Jabba the Hutt mission in Star Wars Outlaws behind a $40 paywall, understandably upsetting players who were looking forward to the game.
On Star Wars Outlaws’ season pass website, Ubisoft listed down the perks players can get from buying the game’s Season Pass. There’s the usual early access, two additional DLC, and extra cosmetics. Normal things to expect.
What caught the eyes of players, however, was the fact that the season pass also included a “Day 1 exclusive mission with Jabba”, titled Jabba’s Gambit. The mission involves Kay helping ND-5 out with their debt to Jabba the Hutt, who has come to collect.
While having a mission that focuses on one of the most iconic villains in all of Star Wars should be a reason to celebrate, fans are doing anything but. After all, since the mission is locked behind the Season Pass, players have to pay extra to play the special Jabba the Hutt mission.
For context, the game’s base price is $69.99. The season pass, according to the website, is “only available for pre-order with [the game’s] Gold or Ultimate edition, or with Ubisoft+ Premium.” According to the pre-order website, the game’s Gold and Ultimate editions are $109.99 and $129.99 respectively.
That means that players will need to pay an additional $40 to get the Gold Edition, or an additional $60 for the Ultimate Edition, just to be able to experience the mission for themselves. Granted, the Ultimate Edition is included in Ubisoft+ Premium, but that’s still a $17.99 monthly subscription fee to play the mission.
Understandably, players are upset about this. After all, why pay almost double the game’s price just to be able to play a single mission? Why lock a mission that involves one of the most well-known characters in Star Wars behind a paywall?
Soon after news of this paywalled mission spread on the internet like wildfire, Ubisoft stepped in and released a statement addressing it. According to Ubisoft, only this mission requires a Season Pass. Players will still be able to meet Jabba the Hutt and the Hutt Cartel even if they don’t own the Season Pass.
To clarify, Jabba the Hutt and the Hutt Cartel are one of the main syndicates in Star Wars Outlaws and will be part of the experience for everyone who purchases the game, regardless of edition. The “Jabba’s Gambit” mission is an optional, additional mission with the Hutt Cartel along Kay and Nix’s journey across the Outer Rim. This mission will be available to those who purchase the season pass or an edition of the game which includes the season pass.
Sadly, this was not enough to appease players who were looking forward to the game, who are mad that Ubisoft would paywall a mission just to make players buy the Season Pass.
We’ll just have to wait and see if the Jabba the Hut mission in Star Wars Outlaws is good enough to warrant the price tag. Honestly speaking, though, I don’t think it is.
Sadly, This Isn’t The First Time A Mission Was Paywalled
Back in 2022, Hogwarts Legacy players were greeted by the news that PlayStation 4 and 5 players would receive an exclusive Hogsmeade mission. This gave players access to an exclusive questline, a special Cosmetic Set, and access to a shop that gives them the best rates when selling items.
Understandably, this caused a lot of backlash, as this meant that unless you were playing on PlayStation, you would not be able to experience everything the game had to offer. The paywall was pretty steep, too, as players would need to get a new console if they wanted to experience the mission for themselves.
We can only hope that, with the constant protests from players against paywalled content, game developers would realize that paywalling things is just not the way to go. Sadly, it might take a while before this happens.
That’s all the information we have about the paywalled Jabba the Hutt mission in Star Wars Outlaws.
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