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Star Wars: Huntersconsists of multiple characters fighting in a competitive multiplayer game, with teams of four, customizable characters that are either damage, tank, or healers, and many different arenas to experience. The game has a style similar to that of others, such as Overwatch.
Because of the multiplayer focus, with characters ‘dying’ over and over during the match, and the overall lack of narrative focus, one might wonder if this game is part of the overall Star Wars canon. So, let’s talk about its narrative, place in the timeline, and why everyone is fighting in the first place.
When Does The Story Take Place?
Long story short,yes, this game is canon,just like nearly everything Star Wars-related. Though the game itself doesn’t give a precise year, its summary online from the Star Wars official website says that the game takes place after the fall of the Empire, meaningit takes place after Episode 6.
Thanks to further information from interviews and panels dedicated to promoting the game, we also knowthe game takes place around the same time as the Mandalorian series.
This starts during the year 9ABY(nine years after A New Hope) and has reached year 11ABY in its third season, meaning Star Wars Hunters takes place around this time, which would be aroundfive years after the fall of the Galactic Empire.
What Is The Story Of Star Wars: Hunters?
The game takes place on the planet Vespaara,in the Outer Rim — an area famous for its lack of proper government and where much of the criminal world of Star Wars happens.
The arena itself is organized by Hutts,who are also common in the criminal world of the franchise, with most of them being powerful crime lords.
Other than that,the fights in the arena are mainly for money and glory,as they are also broadcast through the HoloNet.
The huntersare those who participate in the fighting, and they are essentially there to compete with one another. It’s a simple premise that successfully sets the stage for the combat.
Star Wars: Hunters appears to be non-canon becausethe game was intentionally designed to take place on an isolated planetso that it can be its own thing without relying on pre-established characters and worlds.
It gives the developers nearly complete freedom to do as they want with the game while still being part of the canon by only focusing on famous events in a vague way, such as having arenas that are designed after famous locations, such as the Death Star.
Who Are The Hunters?
Because Star Wars: Hunters is essentially its own thing,the character concepts can even feel quite absurd compared to other Star Wars stories— at least compared to more serious stories, such as Andor.
That’s far from being a bad thing, though.The wackiness of the characters matches the game’s aesthetics,and some concepts are so ludicrous that it’ll be hard to see them somewhere else.
But who knows, maybe one of these characters will get popular enough for a live-action cameo in a series or movie.
Despite that,all hunters have their mechanics,their classes, a basic backstory and, in some cases, established relationships with one another.
A good example isRieve, who has Force powers that she can’t control properly, and she uses Sith aesthetic for her imagery — almost like a wrestler using a specific animal as a brand.
She has an on-stage rivalry with a droid who was programmed with Jedi databanks and fully believes to be a Jedi, and his name is J-3DI — quite the unique concept for the franchise. He then shares his backstory with another character, Sprocket, connecting even more characters together.
There’s alsoa Bounty Hunter, a Mandalorian, a Wookie, a former Stormtrooper, an Ugnaughtthat uses a Droideka to fight, and our personal favorite,the amazing Utooni, who are two Jawa brothers, one on top of the other, where they pretend to be one person.
The Star Wars: Hunters Book
Star Wars is alsoquite famous for its books. If you are more interested in the characters,you’re able to read more about them in the book Star Wars Hunters: Battle for the Arena.
The book focuses on Rieve, the newest addition among the hunters, anddiscusses her past as well as her interactions with some of the cast.
The story itself is very simple and focuses mostly on the action, but it’sa nice introduction for the characters and their relationships, especially if you enjoyed the character Rieve, as she takes center stage in the narrative.
It also focuses a lot on the game mechanics,making the story focus a lot on the sport aspect of the arena, talking about the characters, their arena personas, and their teamwork.
