Summary

• Star Wars Outlaws offers players the opportunity to explore a more expansive and detailed version of Tatooine.
• The game takes inspiration from George Lucas' influences, including Western movies and original concept art.
• Players will interact with new characters and criminal factions on Tatooine, enhancing the gameplay experience.

Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment's at a time when the Empire is distracted by the growing rebellion. Throughout the game's campaign, players will get the chance to visit iconic planets such as Tatooine, and while this location has often been covered since its appearance in the first Star Wars movie in 1977, Star Wars Outlaws looks set to be the most interesting version of it yet.

Screen Rant spoke with Star Wars Outlaws' World Director, Cloé Hammoud, and Art Director, Marthe Jonkers at Summer Game Fest 2024 to discuss some of the world-building seen in the game, from creating new planets such as Toshara to adapting franchise classics. In this interview, the duo stated that they would not reimagine a well-known planet such as Tatooine but were expanding it outside of the likes of Mos Eisley and Jabba's Palace as part of building the game's open world, with new settlements to explore that delve into what players know about the planet from other Star Wars media.

Cloé Hammoud: It was really cool to be able to add new locations to Tatooine, and we really got into the source material of what influenced George Lucas when he created that planet, to stay true and to stay authentic to the look and feel of the planet. So we created a new settlement, and that has this true frontier type of vibe with a Sheriff. I don't want to reveal too much, but there is a lot more to unveil to this, and I hope players will be excited as well to discover this location."

Star Wars Outlaws Is Staying True To George Lucas' Inspirations When Expanding His Universe

With Elements Pulled From Western Movies

To make expanding Tatooine feel authentic, Hammoud and Jonkers looked back at the kinds of media George Lucas has cited as inspiration for Star Wars over the years, with the "wretched hive of scum and villainy" clearly pulled more from the Western movies of the time, with the Mos Eisley Cantina resembling the kinds of saloons characters would often find themselves conducting shady dealings in. While the team "were eager to respect what had been established," they were also "super keen on adding their take on it," and Hammoud and Jonkers pointed out that Lucasfilm Games were extremely responsive to these ideas as they guided the team.

It was also stated that the World and Art teams looked to the original Star Wars concept art by the late Ralph McQuarrie for inspiration, drawing heavily on the 1960s and 1970s to further enhance the planet's authenticity.

While Jabba the Hutt and the Pyke Syndicate have been established on Tatooine, it will be interesting to see what other kinds of characters players will be interacting with that are new to the Star Wars universe. A huge part of Star Wars Outlaws' gameplay seems to revolve around the relationships Kay Vess forms as she carries out jobs for various criminal factions, and the idea of one of Tatooine's settlements having some kind of a Sheriff seems like it's bound to play into that, with this character revealed briefly toward the end of the Ubisoft Forward showcase footage.

Adapting an iconic location like Tatooine is no easy feat, but Massive Entertainment seems to be taking it in its stride, offering players the chance to explore extremely detailed versions of places from the films while also providing something new within the extremely familiar territory. Star Wars Outlaws launches on August 31 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Ubisoft Connect and Epic Games Store, and pre-orders for the title are available now.

Source: Ubisoft/YouTube