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The Star Wars galaxy has a unique aesthetic, and for its open-world adventure game Star Wars Outlaws, developer Massive Entertainment had the tricky task of keeping that design ethos intact while putting its own spin on that franchise. In a new video in GameSpot’s Insider series, the developers at Massive Entertainment revealed just how they managed to strike that balance between authenticity and originality for their open-world adventure game.
Thanks to all the reference material provided to the developer–like concept art and sketches–the studio felt inspired to create a world for Kay Vess to inhabit that’s inspired by the original films and the time period they took place in. Massive Entertainment aimed to use those assets to create worlds, cities, and vehicles that could feasibly exist in the original trilogy of Star Wars films, like Kay Vess’ ship, the Trailblazer.
Inspired by the technology, vehicles, and even the kitchen utensils of the ’60s and ’70s, Massive Entertainment followed the same artistic path as the artists who worked on the Star Wars films to create an authentic layer of detail for Star Wars Outlaws. “For us it was really important to bring new things, but in the same methodology,” associate art director Marthe Jonkers explained about the studio’s artistic approach to the design of Star Wars Outlaws.
Massive Entertainment knew it was headed in the right direction when it had discussions with LucasFilm and the company struggled to tell if the developer had created an original asset for the game or replicated one from the Star Wars movies. “We definitely had situations where people weren’t sure if this was something we had created or if it’s something that we took from existing stuff,” associate narrative director John Bjorling said. “And I think that’s like the highest grade of accomplishment that you could probably have. It’s so authentic that we don’t even know.”
The end result is a Star Wars game that looks like it could fit very easily in the classic Star Wars universe, thanks to Massive Entertainment’s eye for detail and authenticity. The various locations visited by Kay Vess and Nix feel lived in, the technology looks like it was pulled from a funkier decade of sci-fi design, and even the NPCs sport fashion that looks like it was based on the wardrobe of extras in the old movies.
Star Wars Outlaws releases on August 30 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, but if you’re a Ubisoft+ Premium subscriber, you can start playing three days early while getting all of the bonus content from the Ultimate Edition of the game.
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