Marvel may be gearing up for the release of their Overwatch clone later this week with Marvel Rivals, but a Star Wars Overwatch clone has gone under the radar since its launch and is looking to expand to more platforms early next year.
Star Wars: Hunters was announced in 2021 but delayed for several years before launching in June 2024. Though the game has received generally excellent reviews, it didn’t generate any buzz and was swiftly swept under the rug. However, players rejoice because it could be brought back to life soon.
SW: Hunters Announced for PC
Though Hunters was only available for the Nintendo Switch and mobile, the developers at Zynga are now looking to launch the game on Steam next year.
Players can sign up for the Steam playtest from December 13-16, and early access for the game officially launches on January 27, 2025.
Besides the promise of new playable characters, the PC version also promises a more textured environment to fit the platform. After all, this was mostly designed to be playable on mobile.
What is Star Wars: Hunters about?
SW: Hunters is an Overwatch clone where several colorful characters based on Star Wars archetypes—like Jedi, Sith, Wookiees, droids, and Mandalorians— battle it in maps inspired by other alien planets on Star Wars.
The game is not considered part of the canon, and many characters were initially designed for Hunters to avoid any complexity with the overall SW lore.
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+ 2Hunters on Console Soon?
With the launch of SW: Hunters on PC, some can’t help but think that this means that it could be coming to the console soon enough. Admittedly, the launch on limited platforms may have hindered Hunters from the growth it was expecting to have, but with the game coming to more places, there could be a chance for Hunters to be brought back from obscurity.
So many players are excited about a licensed Overwatch clone with Marvel Rivals, but many don’t realize that Star Wars essentially did the OW cloning first.
Star Wars Needs a New Multiplayer Shooter
A whole fanbase of gamers has been clamoring for a good Star Wars shooter since 2017’s Star Wars Battlefront II. Though Star Wars: Hunters may not have the AAA quality that Battlefront had, it still got off with some great reviews and could very well be the next mainline Star Wars shooter.
click to enlarge + 2With enough buzz generated from a new player base with this expansion, Lucasfilm may reconsider greenlighting development for the next big Star Wars multiplayer shooter. With Star Wars Outlaws not out of the red yet and Star Wars Jedi gestating its third game, there’s a lot of room for Hunters to see a Cyberpunk or No Man’s Sky-level comeback.
Star Wars: Hunters will be released on Steam on January 27, 2025. It is also available for mobile and Nintendo Switch.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Gaming News and Star Wars Hunters page.