The planets of ‘Star Wars Outlaws’

Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment may not have nailed every single aspect of Star Wars Outlaws‘ ambitious approach to open-world video game design, but it sure nails the scoundrel fantasy of living inside the galaxy far, far away’s dangerous underworld.

More importantly, it lets players and longtime fans finally explore detailed and wide open maps, filled to the brim with activities and colorful characters. We wanted to put the spotlight on the planets themselves with this article, so you’ll have a much better understanding of their origins and history if you’ve been watching Star Wars from afar until now or have yet to jump into Kay Vess and Nix’s unpredictable adventure.

Just so we’re all on the same page: Star Wars Outlaws takes place in the gap between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, which means it’s part of the Age of Rebellion era of the official Star Wars timeline as shared by Lucasfilm. In practice, this means the Empire still rules over the galaxy, but cracks are beginning to show, and the Rebel Alliance is gaining more allies and starting to push back. Meanwhile, the crime syndicates are making tons of money, taking advantage of the chaos and disorganization.

With that small intro to the setting and chronology of Star Wars Outlaws out of the way, we’re ready to jump into the five planetary locations you’ll be visiting (or have already visited) in the game. But before that, make sure to note down the best Star Wars games you need to play as well as the Star Wars TV shows you might’ve missed before we’re off to a new romp with Skeleton Crew this next December.

Cantonica

First introduced in The Last Jedi during what many fans call the movie’s weakest subplot, Cantonica may look like a lush green planet with vast oceans up close, but that’s just because both Episode VIII and Star Wars Outlaws only explore the city of Canto Bight and its surroundings, a destination built for the wealthy, gamblers, and war profiteers. Cantonica is actually a desert planet, and Canto Bight is located on the shores of the artificial Sea of Cantonica, which costs a huge amount of credits to maintain (can you make the real-life connection here?).

As a direct result of this process, the lower levels of Canto Bight, inhabited by the working class and the homeless, are damp and unfit for living. In these streets, protagonist Kay Vess was raised as a common thief, yet her skills (and some luck) eventually took her away from the planet. Star Wars Outlaws – at least right now – doesn’t allow us to return to the ‘Casino City’ outside certain story segments, so make sure to take all the nice screenshots of it you want while you can!

In both Outlaws and The Last Jedi, Cantonica is free from the Empire, the First Order, and the New Republic because it’s part of the Corporate Sector, a fiefdom where the corporate entities could self-govern their territories. Its deserts still house pirates and gangs of criminals that want to lay low for a while, but Canto Bight is where most of the planetary activity is, and the Canto Bight Police Department acts as a deterrent to crime and thievery… while also predictably falling to corruption.

Related: Star Wars movies in order: Chronological and release

Toshara

Toshara isn’t a planet, actually. It’s a moon with an arid climate that orbits the planet Toshaal in the vast Outer Rim. For the most part, its geography consists of plains and canyons covered with veins of amberine. While it’s been habitable for ages, the moon’s landscape was at some point eroded by strong winds. The native humans are masters of ‘harvesting’ the wind and taking advantage of it to power their homes and machinery.

This location may seem peaceful at first glance, but it’s increasingly become a go-to refuge for pirates, bandits, and other criminals to escape and store contraband. By the time Outlaws starts, the Pykes are at the top of the food chain, yet the Empire is the faction that technically controls the moon and the system it belongs to.

Toshara was created specifically for Star Wars Outlaws, but we should expect to see more of it in the future, as almost no location in the Star Wars universe is ‘one and done’ (maybe it’ll pop up in comic books?). While most of the action takes place around the crowded Mirogana City, the game offers plenty of opportunities in the plains, valleys, hideouts, and Imperial outposts and bases that surround the area.

Kijimi

Kijimi, a frigid planet located in the Bryx sector of the Mid Rim, was one of the coolest new locations introduced in the divisive ninth episode of the Skywalker Saga, The Rise of Skywalker. In both that movie and Outlaws, the story takes the main characters to its main settlement: Kijimi City, originally known as Kijimiko. While it was built around a Dai Bendu monastery, the city soon became a haven for criminals, guilds, and all sorts of gangs.

The Ashiga Clan, a dynasty based around a Melitto hive, ruled over Kijimi City and most of the planet for generations. In spite of its code of honor, the group soon became part of the underworld and took over extortion, sabotage, and weapons manufacturing operations. However, they seemingly punished the contraband of spice and substances that were deemed harmful for Kijimi and its inhabitants. This led to crime syndicates like Crimson Dawn attempting to overthrow them around the time Kay Vess arrived.

Decades later, Kijimi was occupied by the First Order during their expansion and war against the Resistance and remnants of the New Republic. In 35 ABY, shortly before the ultimate defeat of the Sith Eternal and the First Order on Exegol, the planet was completely obliterated by a planet-destroyer ship as a warning to other worlds who supported the Resistance.

Tatooine

Everyone knows Tatooine, an unremarkable Outer Rim desert planet that ended up at the center of so many galaxy-shaking stories. Its scorched surface was the result of the planet orbiting two twin suns, with some scant animal and plant life that had adapted to its rough conditions. The Jawas – who also spread to other planets – and the enigmatic Tusken Raiders are the only sentient species supposedly native to the iconic desert world.

Following the search for mining deposits long ago, Tatooine saw a population explosion and quickly became yet another haven for criminals and smugglers. It wasn’t very long before the Hutts took over, promoting slavery and controlling almost all trade and deals away from the Republic’s (and later the Empire’s) eyes. In Outlaws, Jabba continues to firm control the planet (and his rancor is still alive), but as we all know, his end at the hands of Leia Organa and Luky Skywalker isn’t too far off. Bib Fortuna would take over his palace and turf, only to be murdered and replaced by Boba Fett years later.

Kay Vess’ adventure takes her to Mos Eisley, the “wretched hive of scum and villainy” you’ve always wanted to visit for some odd reason, Jabba’s palace, dangerous valleys, and even part of the Dune Sea. Of course, after the events of A New Hope, the Empire is still around even if it can’t do much with Jabba in power, so it’s a far more dangerous planet during the final stages of the Galactic Civil War.

Akiva

You might think Akiva is yet another brand-new addition to Star Wars canon thanks to Outlaws, but you’d be wrong. It was first introduced in the novel Aftermath (2015), first of a trilogy. This is, however, its first on-screen appearance, and we can safely say that it’s among the game’s best-looking locales.

Also located in the Outer Rim, Akiva is a hot and humid planet full of lush jungles where rain and storms can last weeks if not months. This led to most of the population developing ‘storm ladders’ to quickly get away from the fairly common flash floods. It might seem like an unremarkable world as part of the larger picture, yet both the Clone War and the Galactic Civil War reached this world. First, the Separatists built massive droid factories underground, away from the Republic. Later, the Empire had a notable presence, building a number of outposts and bases.

During Kay Vess’ visits to the planet, the Empire still had a firm grasp on the planet, especially in Myrra, its main city, but crime lords had already started amassing more and more power as the Imperial presence was weakened by the war effort elsewhere. Star Wars readers with a good memory might recognize a certain someone who helps Vess at some point (hint: he also shows up in two of the sequel movies).