"Star Wars Outlaws" would have had a distinctly Canadian touch if the game's narrative director had his way.
Early in the development process for the upcoming video game, Navid Khavari suggested an idea that ultimately never made it out of the writers' room.
"I wanted to write a scene that was just two smugglers apologizing to each other the entire time," says Khavari, who is based in Toronto along with lead writer Nikki Foy and lead voice actor Humberly Gonzalez.
Developed by Ubisoft, "Outlaws" is the first open-world "Star Wars" game and is set between the events depicted in the movies "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi."
While Sweden-based Massive Entertainment led the development, support provided by other Ubisoft studios included motion capture work that Khavari says was done in Toronto and Montreal.
As its name suggests, "Outlaws" explores the criminal underbelly of the galaxy, a side of "Star Wars" that has rarely been seen.
Players will have the opportunity to explore several planets, including the classic Tatooine but also lesser-known and even new locales.
Foy says it was a fun challenge to create a brand new story in a well-established universe.
"Getting to work on this project, in this galaxy, at this time period, it was like a cheat code that got all of us on the same page right away," Foy says.
"You didn't have to worry about what's the world going to be like, what's the tone, what's the vibe — that stuff we already know."
Khavari, who was also the narrative director for "Far Cry 6" and has worked on a number of other Ubisoft titles, says Massive contacted him early on about joining the "Star Wars" project.
"We have a huge abundance of writing talent in Toronto," he says. "The idea really became, let's build a story team in Toronto. This was years and years ago, and Massive was up for it."
In a departure from recent "Star Wars" video games, the main character in "Outlaws" is not a lightsaber-wielding, Force-pushing Jedi knight but a blaster-packing scoundrel.
Gonzalez voices protagonist Kay Vess, a charming and witty rogue trying to find her way in the galaxy.
Gonzalez was born in Venezuela and learned English in the nearby Caribbean island nation of Aruba before moving with her family to Fort McMurray, Alta., where she spent nearly 10 years and studied theatre.
"Being in a small city, I think it really allowed me to hone in on my art," says Gonzalez, who later lived in Montreal and is now based in Toronto.
"Moving to Canada changed everything for me," she says.
"Much like Kay — she left everything behind, she had big dreams, she went to an unknown place where there were a lot of opportunities, and you just have to find them and seize them."
"Star Wars Outlaws" will be released Aug. 30 for Xbox Series S and X, PS5 and PC.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2024.
Curtis Ng, The Canadian Press
