‘Star Wars Outlaws’ New Screenshots and Devs Talk Ashiga Clan Crime Syndicate
Star Wars Outlaws Creative Director Julian Gerighty has revealed some more details about the Ashiga Clan, a new crime syndicate that was created specifically for the game, along with his experience working with Lucasfilm to ensure that these new creations all fit within the Star Wars canon.
In an interview with Game Informer that also included a couple of brand new images from the game, Gerighty reiterates that the Ashiga Clan are based on the planet Kijimi — first seen in The Rise of Skywalker — and are comprised of the insectoid Melitto species, first introduced in The Force Awakens via the background character Sarco Plank on Jakku.
The Ashiga Clan is at something of a crossroads — it is chiefly concerned with function and survival, but it also has desires to expand beyond Kijimi. Associate Narrative Director John Björling goes into a bit more detail:
They have a long tradition and certain events in the recent history put them at a fork in the road where there are different ways they could go forward, and they’re not necessarily in agreement with what the best path forward is.
You have these insectoid, humanoid, kind of very ant-like species and it’s taking that principle of, ‘What would a crime syndicate that is essentially operating like an anthill – what is that like?’
It’s a syndicate with a long tradition, they have a strong hierarchy, and there’s a lot about putting the hive before yourself. I think those aspects make it stand out as a unique kind of crime syndicate.
It’s unclear if those “certain events in recent history” are smaller local events related to the clan itself, or if they have something to do with the galaxy-changing events like the destruction of the Death Star in A New Hope, which would have happened 3-4 years before the events of Star Wars Outlaws.
Gerighty also explained the process of working with Lucasfilm to induct new additions like the Ashiga Clan, Nix and Kay Vess into established Star Wars lore. It seems to involve a lot of back and forth in order to have new additions make sense.
Every week, we have several calls with them where we share what we’d like to do, the intentions, and they challenge us; we do a back and forth like that over several weeks to be able to get the shape language right, to get the lore right, to make sure it becomes part of Star Wars canon.
The Ashiga Clan is part of Star Wars canon now. Toshara is part of Star Wars canon now. And that’s super gratifying when you help design a creature that’s as lovable and fierce as Nix and it becomes part of one of the most storied IPs in the world.
Star Wars Outlaws arrives on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 on August 30, 2024.
Josh is a huge Star Wars fan, who has spent far too much time wondering if any Star Wars character could defeat Thanos with all the Infinity Stones.
