The upcoming competitive arena combat game, Star Wars: Hunters, takes place in a familiar period of the much-loved galaxy far, far away. Hunters sees players compete as a team of diverse, fun characters to control, escort, and win arena-based modes, and features both new and returning figures from the Star Wars galaxy. Players can take control of bounty hunters, Sith warriors and even veterans of the Galactic Civil War.
In Star Wars: Hunters, players work alongside three teammates to dominate the Grand Arena and compete to be the "Hunters of the Outer Rim". The Grand Arena is stylized as familiar favorite planets from the Outer Rim, including a snowy map with a collapsed AT-AT walker representing Hoth, and a woodland arena with tree-top paths like Endor. Players select from a diverse, new range of playable characters in Star Wars: Hunters, each belonging to one of three classes: Tank, Support, and Damage.
Star Wars: Hunters is set sometime between Episodes VI and VII of the Star Wars franchise. Return of the Jedi concludes with a victorious party following the destruction of the second Death Star at the Battle of Endor, and is set four years after the Battle of Yavin. As The Force Awakens occurs in 34 ABY, and the Empire didn't collapse until 5 ABY, it can be deduced that Star Wars: Hunters takes place at some point between 5-34 ABY. Many important events occurred in between Return of the Jedi and the beginning of Rey's journey in The Force Awakens. The Empire's collapse and the founding of the New Republic under the first Chief of State, Mon Mothma, kickstarted this era, but it wasn't the end of the war completely. While the Empire ceased to exist following the Battle of Jakku (as depicted in Star Wars Battlefront's sequel), in the years to come, several battles and crises alerted Leia Organa Solo to the First Order, which led to her creating the Resistance.
Hunters Isn't The First Star Wars Game Set After Episode VI
Star Wars: Hunters introduces a host of new, fun characters with lots of personality and will include individual customization. In terms of continuity, bounty hunter Imara Vex appears as a playable character with a grappling hook and rockets; she previously appeared in the Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters crossover comic. Original characters, meanwhile, include an Ugnaught piloting a droideka mech, a Wookie who launches boulders at the enemy, and two Jawa brothers standing on each other's shoulders and creating scrap turrets. Players can also choose to play as a dark side warrior called Rieve, a stormtrooper, a Rebel hero, and even a Mandalorian, called Aran Tal. Star Wars: Hunters also features a Jedi droid who thinks he can use the Force, appropriately named J-3DI.
The pivotal time between Episodes VI and VII in which the game is set seems to be a favorite of Lucasfilm, with numerous novels and comics, the flight combat game Star Wars: Squadrons, FPS Star Wars Battlefront 2, and popular Disney series The Mandalorian also being set within this time frame, along with all of its spin-off series, including the Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka. Although Hunters isn't as focused on narrative as those other games, it should still provide an interesting look at the galaxy in between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, and may even include some new details fans haven't seen yet. Star Wars: Hunters will be free to download on Nintendo Switch, App Store, and Google Play in 2022, with full crossplay support at launch.