The Star Wars galaxy has a unique aesthetic, and for its open-world adventure game Star Wars Outlaws, developer Massive Entertainment had the tricky task of keeping that design ethos intact while putting its own spin on that franchise. In a new video in GameSpot’s Insider series, the developers at Massive Entertainment revealed just how they managed to strike that balance between authenticity and originality for their open-world adventure game.
Thanks to all the reference material provided to the developer–like concept art and sketches–the studio felt inspired to create a world for Kay Vess to inhabit that’s inspired by the original films and the time period they took place in. Massive Entertainment aimed to use those assets to create worlds, cities, and vehicles that could feasibly exist in the original trilogy of Star Wars films, like Kay Vess’ ship, the Trailblazer.
Inspired by the technology, vehicles, and even the kitchen utensils of the ’60s and ’70s, Massive Entertainment followed the same artistic path as the artists who worked on the Star Wars films to create an authentic layer of detail for Star Wars Outlaws. “For us it was really important to bring new things, but in the same methodology,” associate art director Marthe Jonkers explained about the studio’s artistic approach to the design of Star Wars Outlaws.