When Star Wars Outlaws™ launches on August 30, players will be able to explore a richly textured open-world galaxy - and when scoundrel Kay Vess isn't recruiting a heist crew or running jobs for underworld syndicates, she can relax by playing (or cheating at) a few hands of Sabacc or betting on Fathier races (protip: Look around for "intel" on these to guarantee a win). She can also indulge in a pastime has rarely been seen in the Star Wars galaxy: arcade games.
As they visit the cantinas and other businesses that dot Star Wars Outlaws' locations, players will discover two fully playable arcade games, both of which feature distinctive, colorful wireframe or vector graphics and minimal controls: Raven 6, a first-person space shooter on rails, and Rider, in which players pilot a speeder through a fast-moving obstacle course.
"The goal was to reference classic arcade games that are from the same era as the original Star Wars trilogy,” says Game Director Thibaut Machin, whose co-development team at Ubisoft Paris worked with Massive Entertainment to create the arcade games in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, along with other minigames players will encounter throughout Star Wars Outlaws.
Visually, Machin says, the games take inspiration for their unique look from ship interfaces throughout the Star Wars galaxy, and particularly in the original trilogy. "For instance, when they are going to the Death Star, there is that vector display," says Machin. Another inspiration was the Vectrex - a game console released in 1982 that featured its own built-in display and used vector graphics to create early 3D games. Lucasfilm also "was very supportive" in providing guidance to help the team achieve the right look, says Machin, adding that the developers had free rein to define the games' look and gameplay.
"It's a nice coincidence that the movies and the first arcade games were released around the same time," says Machin. "We wanted to reference these iconic games, but with refreshed, highly intuitive, replayable gameplay."
To that end, each game features a single level with no "death" - instead of just surviving to the end, players are encouraged to keep replaying to blast more ships, dodge more obstacles, and push for a chance to slam Kay's name onto the machine's high-score board. The intent, says Machin, was to create something approachable, but that players could replay and master to beat the high score.
So what's behind the enduring appeal of putting playable videogames into larger, even-more-playable videogames? From a developer's perspective, Machin says it's about being able to "own" an aspect of the game entirely, creating the art, level design, and game design on a smaller scale. For players, they offer a breather from the action, and help the world feel alive beyond the stealth and shooting. There's also the initial thrill of finding them and discovering how deep they can go - and in the end, Machin says, "it's not just a minigame within a game; it's more like a minigame that is part of the galaxy, and that is communicating, reasoning with the rest of the world."
Star Wars Outlaws™ launches on PC via Ubisoft Connect and Epic Games Store, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S on August 30, and can be played up to three days early starting August 27 with a Ubisoft+ Premium subscription or by preordering the Gold Edition or Ultimate Edition. You can preorder Star Wars Outlaws now at the Ubisoft Store and receive the Kessel Runner Bonus Pack that includes cosmetics for Kay's speeder and her ship, the Trailblazer.
For more on Star Wars Outlaws, check out our accessibility spotlight and the Season Pass roadmap, and visit starwarsoutlaws.com.
