Summary
Star Wars: Huntersgets a lot of the basics right as far as hero shooters go, but there’s one missing element that feels like a major compromise. Developed by Zynga and NaturalMotion for mobile platforms and Nintendo Switch, the game tosses a variety of newly concoctedStar Warscharacters into six different arenas for quick-fire brawls. Although it might not be the most robust option on the market, for fans ofStar Wars, it can seem like an obvious choice to spend some time with.
Theplatform choices forStar Wars: Huntersdo come with some restrictions, and the game definitely feels like it’s designed around the mobile option in some regards. The cartoon style holds up well without intense hardware requirements, and the shorter matches require minimal time commitment. Most adjustments for the mobile market feel like reasonable choices rather than unilateral compromises, although overburdened menus brimming with microtransaction options certainly feel designed to jump out on a phone screen.
Is Star Wars Hunters F2P Or Pay-To-Win?
Star Wars: Hunters has been marketed as free-to-play, but with its currency packs and in-game purchases, some are skeptical it may become pay-to-win.
Star Wars: Hunters Is Sorely Missing Chat Options
The Lack Of A Social Component Limits The Game
The big missing piece ofStar Wars: Huntersis the lack of any in-game chat option, with neither text nor voice communication being available in the game. The simple strategic component can function well enough without the need for callouts, so it’s definitely not as integral as it would be in a number of other online shooters. Even so,Star Wars: Huntersdefinitely feels worse for its absence, and it could end up being a reason why some players quickly drift away from the game and don’t return.
Hero shooters often have a big focus on the social component, and interacting with other players tends to be more than just an accessory to the overall experience. TakingOverwatchas perhaps the defining example of the genre, voice and text chat alike have consistently seen heavy use across both the original game and its replacement sequel. Although there’s always going to be some element of toxicity slipping through in any communication feature, they’re used for both teamwork-focused communication and general chit-chat, helping to make the game feel like a significantly less solitary experience even when playing without a party.
How Star Wars: Hunters Cross-Play & Progression Works
The free-to-play arena shooter, Star Wars: Hunters is available on Nintendo Switch and both Android and iOS devices.
In the long-term,having chat features also makes it a lot easier to form parties consistently. When playing online games for any extended period of time, it’s inevitable that some friends who try it out at launch will end up falling off of the game, leaving whoever does keep playing adrift. Chatting with other players during matches is an easy way to make friends who might actually stick with the game, and in the best situations, these connections can turn into friendships that extend outside the game experience.
Social features can also be a big part of sustaining games with strong community server options likeTeam Fortress 2, where making friends is easy thanks to consistent groups.
The Star Wars: Hunters Platforms Aren’t Chat-Friendly
The Switch Only Supports Voice Chat Through An App
It’s not exactly a shock thatStar Wars: Huntersdoesn’t feature built-in chat options, asvoice chatting on the Nintendo Switch is only ever supported through the Nintendo Switch Online mobile app. This can make sense when it comes to IPs that are generally targeted toward younger audiences, withSplatoonserving as an obvious example. Exposing children to online conversation can make games significantly less family-friendly, with no real way to effectively moderate what might come over the line.
All the same, this feels like it points to a larger problem with therelease model ofStar Wars: Hunters, with the platform availability seeming needlessly restrictive. If the game had ports on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, including chat while keeping it unavailable on the Switch and potentially the mobile version would be a reasonable compromise.Star Wars: Huntersis definitely still going to pick up its fair share of younger players thanks to the IP, straightforward gameplay, and lack of graphic violence, but implementing good parental controls could help curb the negative side effects.
Other Platforms Could Support A Star Wars Hero Shooter
The Brand Is Big Enough To Carry A Wider Release Strategy
The style ofStar Wars: Huntersmight seem somewhat threadbare compared to other hero shooters available on those platforms, but theStar Warsbrand could probably still attract enough players to make the proposition make sense.PlayingStar Wars: Hunterson PCis possible in a roundabout way through emulating the mobile game, and this method seems widespread enough to indicate the presence of an audience. Even if the upfront revenue prospects might not be as exciting as on mobile and Switch, having an audience keyed into a more social version of the game could help give it legs.
Console markets do offer theStar Wars: Battlefrontgames as more involved online shooter alternatives, but despite the presence of some major characters as heroes and villains that can be earned to play in brief spurts, these don’t fill the same void as a hero shooter. It already seems like the Marvel hero shooterMarvel Rivalsis getting more hype thanStar Wars: Huntersdid, and the fact that it seems like a more robust game for the console market is likely a big part of that.
Marvel Rivals Already Has One Major Advantage Over Overwatch 2
Marvel Rivals is a recently announced new PvP shooter that should rival Overwatch 2, though it already has a major advantage over its competition.
It’s nice to have something as polished asStar Wars: Huntersas an option on the go, but it already feels disposable in a way that might be hard to counteract. New maps, modes, and characters are the obvious way to keep things updated, butthere’s no way to curate content that’s as endlessly dynamic as a social experience can be, especially when everything still needs to work under the assumption that no match can ever go on for too long.
It’s not impossible that a console-orientedStar Warshero shooter will eventually release as a separate game fromStar Wars: Hunters, but there’s nothing to indicate one on the horizon. For the time being, it seems likeStar Wars: Hunterswill be the only option, and the lack of social features can make it something of an awkward stop-gap.Star Wars: Huntersis fun and efficient, but it could be more, and the biggest thing holding it back is the fact that there just isn’t any way to talk to other players.
