Star Wars Outlaws follows an entirely new character in Kay Vess, with a largely original ensemble and story. Still, Massive Entertainment has worked with Lucasfilm to pull from a large pool of other Star Wars media to truly embed it between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Previously, there had been the Shadows of the Empire multimedia event to bridge this gap between films, but since Disney acquired the franchise and made most of the "Expanded Universe" stories non-canon, deeming them "Legends," a new story filling this gap has been told through Marvel's Star Wars comics.

[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars Outlaws and the Marvel Comics, War of the Bounty Hunters, Crimson Reign, and Hidden Empire.]

Kay's story takes her across the Outer Rim, dealing with some of the most despicable criminal organizations the galaxy has ever seen. After the events of The Empire Strikes Back, the Rebel Alliance is gaining power and, therefore, has a significant amount of the Empire's attention. Therefore, many parties see this as an opportunity for a large power grab, which has led to a significant increase in criminal activity across the galaxy.

Crimson Dawn's Growing Influence Was The Focus Of A Recent Comic Arc

And Is Referenced In Star Wars Outlaws

One of the major syndicates Kay Vess finds herself working with is the ruthless Crimson Dawn, a syndicate that works largely in the shadows with agents all over the galaxy and serves as a successor to Darth Maul's Shadow Collective, and during the reign of the Empire, Qi'ra assumed full control. While the group was introduced in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, due to the movie's underperformance at the box office, Crimson Dawn hasn't been seen in the movies since, with the comics telling its story in the years before its appearance in Star Wars Outlaws.

In the 2021 War of the Bounty Hunters comic arc, Qi’ra and the rest of Crimson Dawn stole Han Solo frozen in carbonite from Boba Fett and attempted to sell him off in an auction. Many assumed, prior to Star Wars Outlaws' release, that the game would cover these events, as the transportation of Solo in carbonite to Jabba's Palace was used as part of the game's first trailer. However, when Kay arrives at Jabba's palace, Solo is already displayed, meaning this whole arc took place before Star Wars Outlaws' story began.

At the auction, it was revealed that Crimson Dawn had placed spies within every major faction across the galaxy, and sometime after players finish the main questline on Kijimi, ND-5 informs Kay that he and Jaylen were there. ND-5 also suggests that Crimson Dawn may have been behind the current Syndicate War, which was confirmed in the comics.

Sliro's True Identity Is From The Comics

Zerek Besh Also First Appeared In The Comics

During the final act of Star Wars Outlaws, it's revealed that the main antagonist of the game, Sliro, is none other than Director Barsha of the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) during a conversation with Darth Vader. With this reveal came the revelation that Zerek Besh was a front for the Empire, and Sliro has been able to use this organization to infiltrate the criminal underworld and gather intel on those who oppose the Empire.

Director Barsha first appeared in the ultimate goal of bringing down the Empire.

When Does Star Wars Outlaws Take Place In Relation To The Comics?

The Fate Of Some Characters Suggests It May Be Running Parallel

As previously stated, it's clear that War of the Bounty Hunters takes place before Star Wars Outlaws. Still, the appearance of Director Barsha and Zerek Besh in the later comics suggests that the game may be taking place alongside the events of Crimson Reign and before the end of Hidden Empire. This is due to the fate of Sliro at the end of the game and likely the wider syndicate. Sliro dies at the hands of ND-5 upon Jaylen's command, and while Jaylen does momentarily get control of Zerek Besh, he is later defeated as well.

Considering Darth Vader's disdain for Sliro and the Zerek Besh operation, which he deems a "failure" for not successfully bringing him any rebels, with Kay stealing Sliro's databank and those in charge of Zerek Besh being defeated, this seemed to shut down the syndicate operation, despite Sliro arguing that it was "the most groundbreaking intelligence network the Empire has ever seen" and "accomplished more in weeks than the entire Imperial army ever did."

Star Wars Outlaws can stand on its own with its largely self-contained narrative due to seeing the galaxy through the eyes of Kay Vess, who is relatively inexperienced with the syndicates and working on such a scale, having only pulled off smaller heists and cons on Canto Bight previously. However, these ties to the comics, along with the more overt references to the movies, certainly help enrich its story for those who want to dive deeper into the lore.