Star Wars: Outlaws will be all about “what ‘open world’ means to the player”

In the new edition of Edge, on sale now, Star Wars: Outlaws creative director Julian Gerighty explains how Ubisoft Massive wants to present a galaxy of gameplay options to create an unparalleled level of choice within the familiar sci-fi setting. 

A gun battle breaks out during the mission of our demo sequence, with iconic Star Wars blaster effects pinging all around, but we’re assured that it would also have been perfectly valid to stay in stealth mode all the way to where lead character Kay Vess’ speeder bike is located, never getting into a fight before making an escape. “We’re really focusing on what ‘open world’ means to the player,” Gerighty says, “which is full freedom of approach.”

This freedom links to the game’s factions – criminal syndicates within the Outlaw universe which can take a liking or disliking to Vess depending on the player’s actions. “If you’re in their good books,” Gerighty explains, “you’ll unlock exclusive quests, special prices at their vendors, access to locked-off areas. But if you’re in their bad books, they’re going to send people to chase you down – and there’ll be consequences in terms of credits, or some sort of monetary punishment, there.”

Our extensive cover story digs into many of the defining aspects of Ubisoft’s sprawling project, including why it was decided to set the game between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi; the special visual effects the development team have created in order to give the production an authentic aesthetic; and how deep-space travel is being implemented, lending the game an entirely different dimension. 

Star Wars: Outlaws is the lead game in a special summer preview edition of Edge featuring 100 games across all formats, with further highlights including Starfield, Fable, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros Wonder, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, and Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown. 

In addition, Edge 387 tells the story behind the making of The Case Of The Golden Idol, talks to the founders of What The Golf? studio Triband Games, and weighs up the AR gaming opportunity presented by Apple’s Vision Pro. In Time Extend, meanwhile, we return to the post-Soviet miserabilism of STALKER: Shadow Of Chernobyl, and elsewhere explore the unstoppable rise of the interactive movie, and provide our final verdicts on new releases including Final Fantasy XVI, C-Smash VRS, and Oxenfree II: Lost Signals.