It seems that Star Wars fans will finally be able to play the blackjack-esque Sabacc in video game form when Star Wars Outlaws hits shelves later this year.
Longtime fans of the series will be familiar with Sabacc as the scoundrel’s card game of choice. It’s often used to settle disputes in various back-room dealings and is most famously portrayed in the Solo: A Star Wars Story movie. It’s even how Han Solo won the iconic Millenium Falcon starship off of Lando Calrissian. Fortunately, inquisitive fans who’ve always wanted to know how it works will be able to try their luck at it as it is set to take center stage in Star Wars Outlaws.
Star Wars Outlaws: Sabacc Revealed By ESRB
The Star Wars Outlaws’ ESRB rating (T for Teen) revealed that Sabacc will be a major part of the game. The ESRB rating summary stated that “players can wager in-game currency on Sabacc, a blackjack-like card game with detailed rules.” This suggests that Sabacc will feature heavily in the game.
This is great news for longtime fans of the series, as Sabacc dates all the way back to 1983. It first appeared in the Mindharp of Sharu novel 41 years ago and later in the Crisis on Cloud City supplement for a tabletop Star Wars roleplaying game in 1989. Sabacc has since appeared in a slew of Star Wars media. It most often shows up to highlight when some questionable characters are up to no good in the Galaxy’s seedy underbelly.
What Is Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws?
In a nutshell, Sabacc is Star Wars’ version of blackjack, where players must get as close to the number 23 as possible. We don’t exactly know how Sabacc will appear in Outlaws, but we expect it’ll follow a similar ruleset based on the original 1989 tabletop release. Various other iterations of Sabacc have appeared in physical form over the years. Most recently, the Star Wars Han Solo Card Game featured a variant with an increased deck size.
The first trailer for Star Wars Outlaws shows Kay Vess playing Sabacc with some suspicious characters. We imagine it will feature quite a bit in Outlaws’ story. We’re crossing our fingers for a way to cheat and blast our way to victory if it comes to it. Scoundrels don’t play fair!
With the huge success of card minigames in other titles, we expect big things from Sabacc in Outlaws. The Witcher 3’s Gwent card game inspired its own spinoff and has prompted similar minigames in games such as Final Fantasy: Rebirth and Horizon Forbidden West. Are you looking forward to playing Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws? Let us know in the comments. For everything else on the game, head over to our Guide Hub here.