‘Star Wars: Outlaws’ Narrative Director Navid Khavari Provides More Details on Game’s Exploration, Crime Syndicates, and More
In a new feature publication from Kotaku, the narrative director of Star Wars: Outlaws, Navid Khavari, spoke about the game’s open-world exploration, the various crime syndicates, and more on the game’s story. Star Wars: Outlaws comes from Massive Entertainment, the developer responsible for Ubisoft’s The Division series and the recent Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
While Massive Entertainment hasn’t shown much of anything new since this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, other additional details from the developers have poured out since then. At Comic-Con, it was revealed that Jabba the Hutt will be in Star Wars: Outlaws and that the main character, Kay Vess, can take on missions for him and even betray him. And while the game is a large, open-world game, creative director Julian Gerighty has said it will be a “manageable” game and will not be a “200 or 300-hour epic unfinishable RPG.”
In the latest interview with Navid Khavari, he was asked exactly what is Star Wars: Outlaws’ core gameplay loop. Khavari responded by explaining three different types of experiences that players will have, all having something to do with exploration:
“The first of these is dense cities bustling with activity and lively cantinas where you might find criminal syndicates and corrupt Imperials mingling together. Second is our vast, mysterious, and stunning open environments … whether on foot or Kay’s speeder. And finally, space, which players can explore on Kay’s ship.”
Khavari further went on to say that the goal of the game was to provide a seamless experience from vehicle to vehicle. He says that that’s all part of allowing the fans to play “intergalactic tourist” and to allow them to travel around iconic planets:
“One of the core parts of the scoundrel fantasy is having your own ship and that essentially being your home. Outlaws are traveling constantly and need to be on the move all the time— that’s no different for Kay. You’ll be able to go from on foot, to speeder, to your ship and easily jump between planets …
Space represents a super lucrative yet very risky experience for any outlaw … If you go off the beaten path, your willingness to explore will bring surprises as well. So you can go from taking on a contract to steal an Imperial shipment, but then get distracted on your speeder and head off into the Toshara savannah in search of an artifact, and the game will reward your curiosity.”
Along the way, the main character Kay Vess will also run into other factions and characters that will make life difficult. Khavari further elaborated on these groups and organizations, and how players will have personal relationships with them that fluctuate depending on their choices:
“Players can use quests with each of the syndicates to manage Kay’s reputation, which will impact the jobs they offer and the impact they’ll have on throughout the story. Each player will have a different profile with each of the syndicates based on how they’ve interacted with them over the course of her journey.”
Lastly, Khavari also shared more info on the game’s setting and how that affects the story Massive is trying to tell. The game is set in the year between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi:
“The rebels are on the back foot, and while everyone is caught up and somewhat distracted by the ongoing civil unrest, there’s a vacuum that creates the perfect opportunity for the underworld to rise and gain power out of sight of Imperial rule.”
While initial reports suggested the game was targeting an early release next year, new reports from Ubisoft now suggest Star Wars: Outlaws has been pushed to later 2024. Even then, however, Star Wars fans do have other games to look forward to, like the upcoming Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, which is officially slated for next year on February 24.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jay Goodearl runs the YouTube Gaming channel “Good Games, Dude” His channel aims to open up video games to beginners and immediate players and help them understand what makes games the art form that it is.
