Ubisoft is taking a fresh approach with its upcoming open-world Star Wars game, Star Wars Outlaws. Unlike some past Ubisoft titles known for sprawling worlds and hundreds of hours of gameplay, Outlaws is aiming for a more manageable playtime. Despite featuring a vast open world across multiple planets, creative director Julian Gerighty assures players that completion won’t turn into a marathon.
The focus for Outlaws is on a tighter experience. Gerighty estimates that the main story path, or “golden path,” in Outlaws should take most players around 30 hours to complete. For those who want to be completionists and experience everything the game has to offer, Gerighty suggests a playtime of 50 to 60 hours. This is a significant shift from games like Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, where players could potentially sink hundreds of hours into the open world.
This focus on a more manageable playtime allows the development team to prioritize detail over quantity. Gerighty emphasizes this focus, stating that the decision enables them to “focus on the detail” and “execute something that is manageable,” potentially with a smaller development team. This focus on detail seems to be paying off according to early previews. A Kotaku hands-on preview mentions the impressive level of detail in the game’s environments, noting that the player might find themselves wanting to pause and admire the world around them.
Gerighty highlights the importance of creating a clear and achievable development plan early on in the development process. He shares an example of how the team initially planned to include swimming in the game but ultimately had to cut it due to limitations and the need to keep the scope manageable. Gerighty explains, “So, for example, removed – we wanted swimming, like the first few iterations of the pitch that we did, we’d have loved to have had swimming. It’s not possible, animation said, it’s not possible in terms of the scope. So, OK, we can live without that, we’ll do without it, there’s plenty of other things that we can explore.”
However, Gerighty also acknowledges that development is not a completely rigid process. He mentions that some unplanned features, like mini-games such as Sabacc and arcade games, were added during development. This highlights the fact that development can be flexible, allowing for room to add features that emerge organically during the creative process.
Star Wars Outlaws is scheduled to launch on August 30th for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Players looking for a vast Star Wars world to explore won’t be disappointed, but those worried about an overwhelming time commitment can rest assured that Outlaws is aiming for a more focused and manageable experience, prioritizing quality over endless quantity.
This focus on a tighter experience with a clear development plan should lead to a well-crafted open world filled with detail for players to explore and enjoy. While some features might get cut along the way, the potential for unplanned additions like mini-games keeps the development process exciting and allows the game to evolve in unexpected ways.
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