One of the many Star Wars games that's upcoming is Star Wars: Hunters. This is a fairly new take on the traditional formula for Star Wars games, which have varied wildly over the last several years. If you're curious about this more lighthearted yet still competitive take on the Star Wars universe, we've got you covered. Here's everything you need to know about Star Wars: Hunters.
What is Star Wars: Hunters?
Star Wars: Hunters is a third-person team-based game being developed and published by Zynga, in partnership with NaturalMotion. Set after the fall of the Empire but sometime before the events of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, teams compete on the planet of Vespaara in The Arena. Each character has unique abilities, encouraging players to mix up their roster in order to find their favorite characters.
Depending on how the game's launch and post-launch support go, Star Wars: Hunters could be one of the best Android games available.
Star Wars: Hunters — Gameplay
Star Wars: Hunters uses a third-person perspective. The game divides players into two teams of four, meaning that picking the right Hunter for the right team lineup can be critical, as any ability could turn the tide at any moment.
You can take a look at the gameplay trailer for Star Wars: Hunters below:
There are different PvP modes such as Escort, which tasks players with escorting the payload from one location to another. Another mode is Control, which is a spin on the classic king of the hill, requiring a team to control a specific point until time runs out. Finally, in Huttball, teams try to control the ball in order to score points.
Maps in the game all take place within The Arena, but with various customizations that are meant to represent classic Star Wars planets, such as a snowy setting for Hoth, while maps representing Endor and Tatooine will have a dense forest and scorching sand setting, respectively.
More content is being added while the game is in soft launch, including new Hunters, maps, and modes. Given the nature of Star Wars: Hunters, it's safe to expect more content will also be added post-launch on a somewhat regular basis.
Star Wars: Hunters is a free-to-play game, meaning you won't have to spend anything if you don't feel like it. It is worth noting however that Star Wars: Hunters does include microtransactions, for both additional content and premium currency.
Star Wars: Hunters — Characters
The characters in Star Wars: Hunters are the titular Hunters, contestants in The Arena who are competing for rewards and fame, though it's hinted that a few have other motivations.
Each Hunter falls into one of three classes: Damage, Support, and Tank. As the names imply, this means that despite the unique skills of each Hunter, they all have roughly one of three roles, being meant to deal lots of damage, buff allies and debuff foes, or soak up damage.
Being a team-based game, each character in Star Wars: Hunters has a wildly different playstyle, with unique abilities compared to the rest of the roster. So far, Zynga has revealed 11 characters for Star Wars: Hunters, with more heavily implied to be coming in the future. Here are the characters we know about and their descriptions:
- Aran' Tal: A mysterious Mandalorian warrior.
- Grozz: Described as being large even by Wookie standards, Grozz is one of the stars of the Arena, a fierce former huttball player wielding twin droid arms he previously ripped off of a KX-droid.
- Imara Vex: A bounty hunter, Vex uses The Arena as advertising, showing off her skills to potential clients. Outside of her skill, little is known about her, which is on purpose.
- J-3DI: An artificial Jedi of sorts, J-3DI is a droid programmed like a Jedi, with "simulated Force powers" and skill with a lightsaber.
- Rieve: A malicious young dark side warrior, Rieve pairs her cruelty with her charisma in the arena, dashing around and getting up close with her lightsaber.
- Sentinel: An "unambiguous villain," Sentinel is a veteran Stormtrooper who continues to hold faith even after the fall of the Empire, backing up his resolve with a heavy blaster.
- Skora: A Rodian "chemistry genius," Skora is a Support character, using her intelligence and chemistry talents to buff her allies and debuff enemies across The Arena.
- Slingshot: A wild and go-lucky Ugnaught who rides around through the arena with a droideka.
- Sprocket: A Mon Calamari technician with "childlike enthusiasm" for the sport, Sprocket isn't super strong, instead relying on highly advanced droids and weapons in order to level the playing field.
- Utooni: Two Jawa brothers who work together in The Arena, with a wide array of weapons hidden behind their cloaks.
- Zaina: Coming from the era of the Rebellion, Zaina is a staunch supporter of the New Republic, leading in The Arena with proven experience.
Star Wars: Hunters — Platforms
Star Wars: Hunters is currently in development for Nintendo Switch, as well as Android and iOS mobile devices. Requirements for players across various Android devices have not been completely revealed as yet, but we expect this to change with the full launch of the game later in 2022.
No other console versions have been announced yet, though we wouldn't rule out the game coming to PlayStation or Xbox consoles eventually. Being a free-to-play multiplayer game, the developers will want as many players as possible, so it makes sense to roll the game out to additional platforms over time.
Star Wars: Hunters — Release date
Star Wars: Hunters was originally set to release sometime in 2021, but was pushed back to 2022. However, last month, Zynga once again delayed the game, shifting back the release date to sometime in 2023.
The game is currently available in "soft launch" on iOS, meaning some players in select territories can already play it. The wider launch for all iOS players, as well as players on Android and Nintendo Switch, is set for an unknown time later in the year. We'll be sure to provide an update as we get more concrete information.
The developers are promising additional rewards for each milestone of players who pre-register, so go sign up if you're interested.
Picking up a Google Play gift card is a great way to buy any in-game currency you want when you're playing your favorite Android games.
