Star Wars: Hunters Can Still Leave Behind a Long Legacy…

Back in February 2021, developer Zynga officially announced Star Wars: Hunters, a free-to-play hero shooter set in a Galaxy Far, Far Away. Star Wars: Hunters was originally planned for release in late 2021, but those plans proved a little too ambitious. Though it soft-launched in some regions in 2021, Star Wars: Hunters didn't release fully until June 2024, after suffering several major delays over a three-year period.

Unfortunately, Star Wars: Hunters wasn't quite worth the wait, at least according to many of the critics who reviewed its day-one iteration. The game's microtransactions, underwhelming progression systems, and lack of originality were all prominent criticisms at launch. Just nine months later, Zynga announced that Star Wars: Hunters would be shutting down its servers completely in October 2025. But this doesn't need to be the end of Star Wars: Hunters' legacy.

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Star Wars: Hunters' Shutdown Doesn't Need to be the End

Star Wars: Hunters' Setting Opens Some Doors

Though its exact place in the timeline wasn't specified, Star Wars: Hunters was set between the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And with one of the game's playable characters being a defected Imperial Stormtrooper, it's likely Star Wars: Hunters took place closer to the fall of the Empire than the rise of the First Order.

The vast majority of recent live-action Star Wars media has revolved around this time period. The Mandalorian's first season takes place around five years after Return of the Jedi (9 ABY), and The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka take place soon after. With Ahsoka Season 2 and The Mandalorian and Grogu on the way, there might be room to squeeze in a reference or two to Star Wars: Hunters.

Star Wars: Hunters' Characters Could Live On

The most likely element to survive Star Wars: Hunters' imminent shutdown is the game's colorful cast of characters. A consistent point of praise among critics, Star Wars: Hunters' roster was vibrant and diverse, containing a wealth of larger-than-life Outer Rim scoundrels, bounty hunters, and everything in between. Jedi droids, Rodian surgeons, Wookie juggernauts, Zabrak archers, and even an AT-ST-riding Ewok were all present in Star Wars: Hunters, alongside 12 equally sprightly characters.

Though most of these characters didn't get much fleshing out in Star Wars: Hunters, their designs are enough alone to warrant at least one more appearance in the Star Wars galaxy. Some of these characters could show up in a future Star Wars video game as sidekicks or secondary antagonists, or they could even team up again in a different gameplay setting, such as a turn-based strategy game akin to the upcoming Star Wars Zero Company.

It'd be highly unlikely, but some of these characters could even work in some upcoming live-action Star Wars projects. Characters like Zaina the Rebel war hero would be a great fit in any New Republic-related show or movie, and characters like Aran Tal the Mandalorian Vanguard would look right at home alongside Bo-Katan and the rest of her Mandalorian tribe. Some characters could even be the subject of their own animated show, such as the Jawa scavenger duo Utooni or bounty hunter Imara Vex. At the very least, it'd be great to see Star Wars: Hunters' diverse roster appear in a future comic book.

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