I still remember the exact moment the Star Wars Outlaws pre-order page loaded, and my bank account let out a tiny whimper. There it was: the Ultimate Edition, sitting at £115, practically glowing with promises. A so-called exclusive mission called Jabba's Gambit was tucked inside, and for a split second, my brain went full starry-eyed smuggler. But then my gamer instincts kicked in, and honestly? The whole thing smelled like a Hutt's bargain.

For those who haven't stared at the storefront long enough to see the fine print, Star Wars Outlaws arrived in three flavours. The Standard Edition was the vanilla game at £60. The Gold Edition jumped to £95 with the Season Pass. And the Ultimate Edition came in at £115, piling on the Season Pass plus some cosmetics and that one shiny "exclusive" mission.

Edition Price What you get
Standard £60 Base game
Gold £95 Base game + Season Pass
Ultimate £115 Base game + Season Pass + cosmetics + Jabba's Gambit mission

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I stared at that table like it owed me money. An extra £55 for a single mission and some cosmetics? No way. But the marketing was clever. Jabba's Gambit was listed as part of the Season Pass, and the phrasing made it sound like you needed the Gold or Ultimate Edition to play it at launch. The greedy slug himself hovered over the whole thing like a bouncer outside a cantina.

Here's the kicker: Ubisoft has a very predictable habit with so-called exclusive missions. They don't stay exclusive. They just wait.

I'd seen this show before. Last year's Assassin's Creed Mirage had a pre-order bonus mission called "The Forty Thieves". You could only unlock it by putting money down early. But around six weeks after launch, it quietly became a Ubisoft Connect reward for 60 Units. Those Unit things are basically achievement points you earn just by playing Ubisoft games. In Mirage, you could earn enough before you were even halfway through. No extra cash needed.

The same little dance happened with Assassin's Creed Valhalla's "Way of the Berserker". And Immortals Fenyx Rising's "A Tale of Fire and Lightning". And Assassin's Creed Odyssey's "The Blind King". And Assassin's Creed Origins' "Secrets of the First Pyramids". Each one strutted around as a pre-order exclusive, then later became a free Ubisoft Connect reward for patient players.

That's when it clicked for me. The exclusive mission isn't really a reward for paying more. It's a patience tax. Ubisoft picks an intriguing-sounding story mission, holds it back for select customers at launch, then opens the door later for everyone with a bit of patience.

The Jabba question got even muddier. Was meeting Jabba himself locked behind that mission? The trailers showed him in multiple scenes, so the idea that you'd never see the galaxy's most famous slug without shelling out extra seemed... unlikely. But Ubisoft didn't exactly rush to clarify. And that vagueness felt deliberate. A confused buyer is a buyer who reaches for the more expensive edition "just in case".

Honestly? No way. I decided to wait.

There's something almost funny about watching a greedy Hutt used as a marketing bouncer. He sits there, all slime and smugness, as if to say, "Pay up, or no exclusive mission for you." But patience is the one currency Jabba can't grab.

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So if you're standing where I stood, thumb hovering over the Gold or Ultimate button, take a breath. The base game is right there at nearly half the price. The extra cosmetics and early mission will likely drift back around later, like a familiar freighter returning to port. Ubisoft has form, and it's a long one.

I even asked the publisher whether Jabba's Gambit would become more widely available down the line. The silence that followed was... well, let's just say it spoke volumes. We were left to read the tracks in the sand.

Now, looking back from 2026, the pattern feels even more obvious. Big publishers love to dress up a side quest in a fancy trench coat and call it "exclusive". But the truth is, if you can resist the FOMO for a couple of months, the game usually opens up and waves you through.

You don't need to drop £115 on Star Wars Outlaws. Save your credits. Grab the Standard Edition, enjoy Kay Vess's story, and let the Hutt wait. That's my advice, from one exhausted wallet to another. 🎮💰