Star Wars: Hunters
2024 competitive combat arena video game
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Star Wars: Hunters was a free-to-play player-vs-player competitive arena combat game developed by Zynga for Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android, and released on June 4, 2024.[3][4] The game takes place after the fall of the Galactic Empire, featuring a new cast of characters including bounty hunters, rebellion heroes and imperial stormtroopers. The game was shut down on October 1, 2025, due to lacking commercial viability.[5]
| Star Wars: Hunters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developers | Zynga NaturalMotion |
| Publisher | Zynga |
| Composer | Gordy Haab |
| Series | Star Wars |
| Engine | Unreal Engine[1] |
| Platforms | |
| Release | June 4, 2024[2] |
| Genre | Action |
| Modes | Single-player, multiplayer |
Gameplay
Star Wars: Hunters was a squad-based arena shooter. Set between the events of Episode VI and Episode VII, players fight in settings inspired by Star Wars locations.[6] The game features a diverse set of characters including a Wookiee warrior, a Dark Side Force user, a bounty hunter, and an Imperial Stormtrooper.[7]
Development
On August 18, 2018, Zynga and Disney brokered a deal for a Star Wars game on mobile to be developed by Zynga and its subsidiary NaturalMotion.[8] Star Wars: Hunters was formally announced during the Nintendo Direct presentation on February 17, 2021 with a teaser trailer with initial plans to release the game by the end of 2021.[9][6] The first gameplay footage was shown off in September 2021 after during an Apple Event while showcasing the iPad Mini. A cinematic trailer was released shortly after depicting some of the characters featured in the game, including the Sith warrior, Rieve and Mandalorian, Aran Tal.[10]
In late 2021, Star Wars: Hunters was soft-launched on Android devices in India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia, and Indonesia.[11] Despite this, on July 18, 2022, Zynga announced that the official release of Star Wars: Hunters would be delayed until 2023.[12][13] However, the game did not release, and on November 8, 2023, Zynga's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, announced during its quarterly earnings call that Star Wars: Hunters had been delayed to 2024.[14][15]
A tech demo of Hunters was shown at Game Developers Conference 2024's State of Unreal, confirming that the game would run on an unspecified iteration of the Unreal Engine.[1] Weeks later, Zynga announced that the game would finally launch on June 4, after multiple delays.[2]
In November 2024, it was announced that the game would be released in early access for Microsoft Windows on January 27, 2025.[16] In March 2025, Zynga announced the full release for Windows was cancelled and that the game would end its services for all platforms on October 1 with a final content patch on April 15.[17]
Reception
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | NS: 57/100[18] |
| OpenCritic | 40% recommend[19] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| IGN | 7/10[20] |
| Nintendo Life | 8/10[21] |
| PCMag | 3/5[22] |
| The Guardian | 3/5[23] |
Star Wars: Hunters received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[18] OpenCritic determined that 40% of critics recommended the game.[19]