Outlaws Director Reflects on Making First Open-World Game

Developing an open-world “Star Wars” game seems like it should be a no-brainer for any studio that has access to the IP found in a galaxy far, far away. So why did it take so long for one to hit shelves? As “Star Wars Outlaws” creative director Julian Gerighty tells Variety, the simple fact is that games are hard to make.

“Believe it or not, making games is ambitious. Games that allow you to jump on a speeder, ride off into the sunset, stop off at a cantina on the roadside, call your ship and then blast off seamlessly into space, that’s really, really, really hard,” Gerighty said. “We had to wait until we had solid state hard drives, which helped people get into very fast updates and visuals. It’s a very ambitious game, but it was the challenge that we wanted to take on.”

“Star Wars Outlaws” was released on Aug. 27, developed by Massive Entertainment in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games and published by Ubisoft — the games industry giant behind the “Assassin’s Creed,” “Far Cry” and “Watch Dogs” franchises. Sales were “softer than expected,” but Ubisoft vowed to release updates around the holidays to turn the game into a “strong long-term performer,” the company said Wednesday. It will also launch on Steam Nov. 21.

The game is set in the era of the Galactic Civil War, between the events of “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” It follows Kay Vess and her adorable sidekick Nix as they pillage across the galaxy to pursue riches, freedom and the means to start a new life in a cruel and unforgiving, war-torn galaxy.

After a foiled heist attempt on the city of Canto Bight, a bounty is placed on Kay’s head. Forced to flee, Kay and Nix must strike out on their own through the humid jungles of the planet Akiva and the savannas of Toshara. As the story unravels, Kay is caught between a war against light and dark for the freedom of the entire galaxy.

When asked why the team chose to pursue this particular era in the “Star Wars” mythos, as opposed to the Clone Wars or the High Republic eras, Gerighty said the team felt this particular chunk in the timeline felt the most apt to tell a story of gunslingers and crime bosses.

“We came to Lucasfilm Games, and we said, ‘We want to make an open-world “Star War,”‘ and they said, ‘There’s this one-year period between “Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” that is perfect,’” Gerighty said. “The Empire is on the ascendant. The rebels have just lost that battle at Hoth. They’re scattered to the four corners of the universe.”

He continued: “The galaxy and the criminal syndicates are rising in power. They’re taking over. And that’s the perfect moment for this scoundrel adventure because it allows you to build up your reputation, form alliances and play with those alliances by betraying them with the reputation system.”

The team found inspiration in projects like Gareth Edwards’ “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” saying they were inspired by how that team created a more modern, visually entrancing and beautifully shot film that relied on the same ships, weapons and sci-fi look from the original series. They wanted the game to look and feel cinematic — for the planets and set pieces to look larger than life and emulate the visual quality of “Rogue One.” That led to the creation of the game’s cinematic in-game camera, which has customizable film grain, vignettes and barrel distortion meant to mimic the anamorphic lenses of ’70s cameras.

“[In ‘Rogue One,’] the art direction, practical effects and production design are reminiscent of the first movies, but those camera lenses and those techniques are 100% modern, so we wanted to emulate that by developing an in-game camera lens that allowed for various effects that were reminiscent of the original trilogy,” Gerighty said.

Gerighty reflected on the game’s journey from its original inception and pitch to its release. He says that working on this project was a “dream come true” and is proud of his team’s commitment and dedication to creating the first open-world “Star Wars” game for the modern era of gaming.

This interview was conducted prior to the release of “Star Wars Outlaws.”