The pressure to create a Star Wars game, especially under Ubisoft, is immense. Julian Gerighty, creative director of Star Wars Outlaws has talked about this. The project was started from a conversation at E3 2018 when Ubisoft Massive’s managing director discussed potential collaborations with Disney.
For many on the team, developing a Star Wars game was a dream, yet it also meant facing expectations from both fans of the franchise and the gaming community.
Star Wars Outlaws Will Break the Ubisoft Formula for a Different Kind of Experience
Ubisoft has a reputation for its formulaic open-world games, often criticized for repetitive gameplay loops seen in franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. Julian Gerighty is aware of this and says that Star Wars Outlaws will be different.
In an interview with GamesIndustry, Gerighty delved deep into the team’s approach to making Star Wars Outlaw. Including the fact that he and the team know the immense pressure and expectations put on them.
There is pressure to deliver a really good game every time we ship. But seeing as this is a childhood dream come true for a lot of us, there is this added pressure of ‘you can’t mess this one up’.
Despite the oversight from Lucasfilm, Gerighty described the process as surprisingly smooth, with a shared creative framework established early on to ensure the game stayed in the course of Star Wars design, visuals, and storytelling.
Almost on day one it was decided we were original trilogy. We were set between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. And from then on, I don’t worry about anything else. It is telling a new story with familiar touch points.
Set between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Outlaws focuses on the scoundrel archetype or space pirate. This choice allowed the team to avoid overcrowding the story with too many iconic characters.
The Pressure of Working With an IP Such as Star Wars
Despite the creative freedom, Gerighty admits there’s an undeniable pressure to deliver. Star Wars games come with high expectations, given the franchise’s legacy. Coupled with Ubisoft’s history, the stakes are even higher.
Gerighty and his team feel the weight of these expectations. The team is driven by a passion to avoid disappointing fans so that Star Wars Outlaws stands out not just as another game but as a definitive Star Wars experience.
Massive Entertainment has taken significant steps to distinguish Star Wars Outlaws from typical Ubisoft games. The game’s structure avoids the overly large, marker-filled maps that Ubisoft is known for.
The leveling system, inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, focuses on character development through narrative-driven encounters rather than traditional skill trees.
Do you think Star Wars Outlaws can change up the Ubisoft formula? Let us know in the comments!
