Galactic Starcruiser Finally Replaced as New 'Star Wars' Experience Gets Exciting Update

One of many upcoming Star Wars projects is set to replace Galactic Starcruiser.

Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is ancient history. Last year, the lavish experience “set” during the sequel trilogy offered guests the opportunity to enjoy an immersive two-night stay aboard the Halcyon, but it crashed and burned like the Death Star in A New Hope when, after just eighteen months, Disney made the decision to shut down the attraction forever.

Its embarrassingly short lifespan — likely a result of its jaw-dropping (and off-putting) price tags — makes Galactic Starcruiser one of Disney World’s greatest failures and an equal disaster for the Star Wars franchise itself (perhaps even more than the enormously divisive sequel trilogy films). But now, a brand-new immersive experience is about to fill the void.

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It seems rather odd to compare a theme park attraction to a video game of all things, but let’s be honest — Star Wars fans want to be deeply immersed into a galaxy far, far away and they don’t care how it’s done, whether it’s a role-playing experience like Galactic Starcruiser, a virtual reality simulation, or the open-world video game Star Wars Outlaws (2024).

Billed as the franchise’s “first-ever open-world game,” Outlaws has been a hot topic within the fan community since it was first announced three years ago. We already know a great deal about the ambitious project thanks to its gameplay-heavy trailer and other insightful sneak-peeks from Ubisoft, from the storyline to the characters and the gameplay to the sandbox environments on offer.

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In a nutshell, Outlaws takes place between Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983), following smuggler Kay Vess (Humberly González) as she navigates life in the galaxy’s criminal underworld. Now, some very reassuring details have been emerged ahead of the game’s 2024 release.

Last week, off the back of this year’s Game Developer’s Conference held in San Francisco, American tech giant Nvidia (via Games Radar) reported that Outlaws will be the “most detailed Star Wars experience you’ve ever seen.”

Here’s what they said regarding the game’s technical specifications in a lengthy blog post:

“NVIDIA has collaborated with Ubisoft and LucasFilm Games to deliver the definitive PC experience for Star Wars™ Outlaws players, leveraging the game-changing technologies of GeForce RTX GPUs to enhance graphics, accelerate performance, and make gameplay even more responsive.”

“Star Wars Outlaws is built using Massive Entertainment’s incredible Snowdrop Engine,” the post continues, “enabling the developers to create the most detailed Star Wars experience you’ve ever seen, with perfectly recreated ships and iconic locations and stunning worlds for you to visit and experience.”

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The game’s Technical Director Tobias Carlsson added his own statement, saying:

“Here at Massive Entertainment, worldbuilding is a part of our DNA, and what better way to showcase our craft than creating the first-ever open world Star Wars game. Filled with distinct locations across the galaxy’s outer rim, both iconic and new, players will be able to experience the Star Wars underworld like never before. DLSS 3 gives us the performance headroom to bring our vision to life and to support additional ray tracing features, helping gamers fully immerse themselves in the adventures of Kay Vess and Nix.”

We already knew that the third-person, open-world action-adventure game would plunge us deep into the galaxy’s seedy criminal underbelly, giving us the chance to work with (and betray) crime lords such as Jabba the Hutt and explore environments beyond both familiar and new, but we may have underestimated the capabilities of modern gaming technology.

It’s wise to temper your expectations, though — Star Wars has disappointed more often than not in recent years with some of the movies, Disney+ shows, theme park attractions (looking at you, Galactic Starcruiser), and even video games.

But while the franchise has let fans down time and time again, there have been a few gems worth holding onto, and here’s to hoping Outlaws will be one of them.

You can read the full blog post from Nvidia here.

Check out the trailer for Outlaws below, per Ubisoft:

Per Ubisoft, here’s the synopsis for Outlaws:

Experience the first-ever open-world Star Wars game, set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Explore distinct planets across the galaxy, both iconic and new. Risk it all as Kay Vess, a scoundrel seeking freedom and the means to start a new life, along with her companion Nix. Fight, steal, and outwit your way through the galaxy’s crime syndicates as you join the galaxy’s most wanted.

If you’re willing to take the risk, the galaxy is full of opportunity.

Outlaws will be released on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.

The faraway galaxy continues to expand. The Bad Batch Season 3 recently arrived on Disney+, and this year will also see the arrival of the live-action shows Skeleton Crew (2024) and The Acolyte (2024). Other upcoming shows are Tales of the Jedi Season 2, Andor Season 2, and The Mandalorian Season 4.

Meanwhile, there are two Mando-Verse movies in the works: The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026) from Jon Favreau, and a crossover from Dave Filoni that will unite characters from The Mandalorian (2019), The Book of Boba Fett (2021), and Ahsoka (2023).

Other theatrical projects include Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s sequel trilogy-era film with Daisy Ridley reprising her role as Rey Skywalker, a Force origin story from James Mangold, and the now-reinstated Rogue Squadron from Patty Jenkins. The franchise also continues to churn out new novels such as Star Wars: Glass Abyss (2024), and new comic books like Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories (2024) and Star Wars: Mace Windu (2024).

As for Disney Parks, even with Galactic Starcruiser now defunct, fans can still immerse themselves into the rich universe created in George Lucas’ original 1977 film. Spanning Disney Parks worldwide are beloved attractions such as Star Tours — The Adventures Continue and Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain, and Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at the themed land Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Outlaws is expected to arrive on all major consoles later this year. Though inevitably more comparable to the open-world Harry Potter game Hogwarts Legacy (2023) when it finally makes its landing, it will still replace Galactic Starcruiser as the most talked-about immersive Star Wars experience.

Are you excited to play Outlaws? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!