Ubisoft try to fix Star Wars Outlaws stealth with latest, galaxy-sized update

New patch also nixes misfiring open world events, UI and graphics issues

Ubisoft have released a big new Star Wars Outlaws patch which, amongst other things, tries to fix and improve the open world game’s stealth. I’ve seen, read, heard, intuited and telepathically detected a lot of complaints about Outlaws stealth, ranging from “it doesn’t look realistic when she punches out stormtroopers through their blaster-resistant hats” to “please remove the hide-and-seek entirely, I wishly merely to pew-pew”. Seems likely that the patch won’t lay all these grievances to rest, to say nothing of the other problems people have with Outlaws. But I’m always interested in how developers Find The Fun in stealth mechanics, given that they are very easily unfun.

The patch has “tweaked the overall stealth experience by adjusting AI detection, the number of NPCs and their positioning, patrol pathing, camera detection and highlighting environmental opportunities to reduce player friction,” according to Ubisoft’s full changelog.

It has also “scaled AI reaction to environmental actions from investigation to combat (e.g. when Nix detonates an NPC’s grenade more than once)” and reduced the odds of detection while you’re in cover. To that, add fixes for a bunch of issues with stealth or supporting systems – NPCs not being distracted by Nix, Kay’s reputation not being impacted when she’s caught doing naughty things like stealing, or being incorrectly impacted by other actions or events.

All this comes in the wake of Star Wars Outlaws creative director Julian Gerighty conceding that the game’s forced stealth sections can be “incredibly punishing”, partly because Outlaws doesn't communicate the ins and outs effectively. “I do think there are millions of low hanging fruits where we can make it so much more enjoyable and understandable,” he said.

I’m focussing on the stealth here, because I am a deeply antisocial person, but the patch covers a lot more ground, including changes to open world events and fixes for various crash bugs, misfires when playing sabaac, dodgy cinematics and the UI in general.

On the graphics front, the update improves the performance of VRAM, RTXDI, Frame Generation, and Ray Reconstruction, and makes Kay’s hair animate properly in different types of rain. Amusingly, Ubisoft have also “fixed an issue where Kay closed the wrong eye when aiming down sights”. Bless her, she’d probably make a great stormtrooper if the smuggling racket doesn’t pan out.

Star Wars Outlaws had a “softer launch” than fondly hoped by Uncle Ubisoft. The publishers have delayed Assassin’s Creed Shadows to make changes in response to Outlaws’ shortcomings, though it’s possible this has more to do with developers further down the ladder telling management that Shadows simply needs more bloomin' time.