It feels like there's always a little bit of added pressure when a project has the Star Wars IP attached to it, and this is certainly no different for Massive Entertainment's upcoming open-world RPG Star Wars Outlaws. Despite this, or perhaps, as a direct result of it, the game is hugely ambitious, offering a wealth of content including combat, exploration, and side activities. Even in a genre packed full of competition, Star Wars Outlaws is doing its best to differentiate itself.
Game Rant recently sat down with several of Massive Entertainment's development team—creative director Julian Gerighty, art and world director Benedikt Podlesnigg, associate art director Marthe Jonkers, narrative director Navid Khavari, game director Mathias Karlson, and composer Wilbert Roget II to discuss Star Wars Outlaws in detail. Among other things, they talked about the game's story, and how the characters help to weave the narrative together. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Star Wars Outlaws' Economy Needs to Burn a Hole in Kay's Pocket
Star Wars Outlaws needs to do everything in its power to avoid a common economic pitfall in games that focus on acquiring massive wealth.
Star Wars Outlaws' Characters Are Key Components of Its World
Q: Can you talk about some of the iterations, early possibilities, and discussions that took place for the characters of Star Wars Outlaws? For example, how did the team settle on Kay Vess’ current look and were there any big debates around certain inclusions or exclusions?
Jonkers: A key element for our character designs was their authenticity. We wanted to design characters that felt like they belonged in the world and setting we were creating. For each design, we considered where they were from, their motivations, skill sets, and how they make a living... all to make each character feel part of the wider, lived-in, Star Wars galaxy.
For Kay, we set out to design a scoundrel character, but one that is still new to the underworld. As she starts out as a thief, much of her look was inspired by that, from the hairpin she secretly uses as a dataspike, to the soft boots that help her sneak around the streets of Canto Bight.
We made tons of sketches to nail down her look and to get every detail right. Her jacket changed color a few times throughout the design process, but one constant element was Nix. We designed them as a duo, and his design influenced Kay's look, like the scratches she has on the back of her jacket and the little Nix tattoo on her wrist.
Q: Kay’s companion Nix is a Merqaal, a previously unseen species in Star Wars created for Outlaws. Can you talk about the process of creating completely new elements like this for Star Wars lore?
Jonkers: Nix was so much fun to design. We knew we wanted to have a companion for Kay that not only was very capable, but more than that, he would be family. For Nix, we got tons of inspiration by just observing our own pets. The relationship we have with our cats and dogs inspired how we thought about Nix’s design and behavior as a real animal.
Nix can be very cuddly and cute when he gets a belly rub, but beware of his sharp claws and teeth! Many elements in Star Wars are very familiar but have an alien twist to them. When designing a new species like Nix, we kept that in mind too. Nix might remind you of your pet, but he does look like he is from another planet!
Q: As a species, what can you tell us about Merqaals?
Jonkers: Merqaals are small creatures that originate from a jungle planet. They are used to a harsh environment with the scales on their back providing protection from rain and predators. Merqaals have dexterous paws and big claws, and with their sharp teeth, they are more than capable of defending themselves.
A perfect companion to a scoundrel like Kay! A very unique element of Merqaals is their 'feelers.' With those, they can sense the environment for danger. Nix also uses them to communicate with Kay, putting them up when he is excited or has found something, and curling them down when he is cautious.
Kay and Nix Could Be the Next Iconic Star Wars Duo
Q: Duos are iconic in Star Wars, like Han Solo and Chewie, Mando and Grogu, and even Cal Kestis and BD-1. What do Kay and Nix add to or borrow from Star Wars’ line-up of duos?
Khavari: Without a doubt, Star Wars has some of the most iconic duos of all time. I do think there’s something particularly unique between Kay and Nix, in that they grew up together from when Kay was young. As Kay is someone who really doesn’t trust too easily, Nix represents a crack in the armor – her heart, her vulnerability.
We infused so much of our own pets into Nix’ character – I know whenever we were writing scripts or talking to Humberly (Gonzalez, who plays Kay) and our fantastic puppeteer Camille (Loiselle-D'Aragon) that we wanted to show Kay seeing Nix not just as a pet, but family. I think players are really responding to that, as it’s so relatable.
Q: One of the notable legacy characters is Lando. How did his incorporation come about?
Khavari: Whenever we looked at characters who fans know and love from this time period, whether Jabba the Hutt, Lady Q’ira, or Lando Calrissian, we always looked at it from multiple angles: Who would contribute to Kay’s growth and change as a character? Who has a story that we can contribute to during this era?
Finally, who would simply be fun to play off Kay’s unique perspective? Lando definitely provides all of these things. Not only is he a fan-favorite character, but he has that perfect combination of swagger, scoundrel charm, and complex character motivations that fit really well into Kay’s journey through the underworld. All of that, and he knows how to rock a cape.
Q: Can you talk about the process of designing and ensuring that the various criminal factions fit into the world? What was it like adding characters like Jabba the Hutt and Lady Qi’ra in the game?
Jonkers: Each syndicate is unique. Not only in the types of units they deploy but also in the materials and colors they use, the equipment they have, their behavior, and their activities. Some are completely entwined with their base location like the Ashiga on Kijimi, some are very organized and operating from the shadows like Crimson Dawn. That makes your choices in who to trust very meaningful. As Kay dives into the underworld, she, of course, inevitably runs into some familiar faces like Lady Qira, or Jabba the Hutt!
We had tons of fantastic reference materials provided to us by Lucasfilm to really dive into the details of his design, from tweaking the slime around his nostrils and mouth to adding the design of his arm tattoo and the wound he has on his tail. The underworld is filled with a rich variety of characters, new and familiar, and I’m looking forward to players meeting them all.

Why Star Wars Outlaws Skipping a Common GTA Mechanic is Probably for the Best
Star Wars Outlaws seems to be taking influence from Grand Theft Auto in a few ways, but there's one GTA feature it's skipping, and it's for the best.
Star Wars Outlaws Will Focus on Kay's Story, Not Jedi
Q: While they may not be the driving force behind the story, will players still encounter the Force or Jedi, or at least feel the lingering presence on characters or planets?
Khavari: It was really important to us to tell a story that is really focused on characters who not only aren’t part of this epic galactic unrest but who especially would have no experience with the Force or the Jedi. It’s important to remember the time period as well, where the Jedi and Force users are all but eradicated in the galaxy, so it’s not really our story to tell.
For us, the journey of Kay, Nix, and ND-5 navigating the criminal underworld through cities bustling with scoundrels, an open world filled with exotic wildlife, or jumping into dogfights with the Trailblazer brings an immersion into the Star Wars galaxy that we feel players will have never experienced before.
Q: What can you tell us about Kay Vess’ story before the events of Star Wars Outlaws?
Khavari: Kay was raised in the casino city of Canto Bight, but more specifically in The Worker’s District, away from the glitz of the casinos. She and Nix struggled to survive, and she took to becoming a thief to make ends meet. Kay looked to the rich and powerful coming in and out of the casinos as pulling the strings of the galaxy, and living a life she would never know. So, with Kay running out of marks to hustle, she believes her only way to break free is to leave Canto behind and land a major score that would set her and Nix up for life.
Q: Can you think of something in Star Wars Outlaws that took considerable effort to get right, maybe something players might not realize immediately, like the design of an outfit, the sound of creatures, or anything like that?
Gerighty: Definitely Kay and Nix. As new protagonists in Star Wars, they had to be immediately recognizable via their silhouettes, so for Kay, getting her hair with her dataspike in her bun and outfit correct in terms of cut and fit and even the fact that she wears sneakers and having her holster hang off her side, those were all really key things we paid attention to. Then for Nix, we’re incredibly proud to be able to introduce a new species to Star Wars via the Merqaal, we spent a lot of time concepting and nailing his backstory and role in the game and translating that into a design which we all really love.
Q: What were some of the most fun or cool details to design artistically for Star Wars?
Podlesnigg: The most fun was to create a new starship… creating a hero ship that not just works visually, but is also a home that changes with the player, that can be freely entered, walked around in, and used to fly around was a great experience. A lot of obscure references we looked at, ranging from turtles, cars, 70s monorails, and toys to strange prototypes built in the 60s and 70s. It was a very fun process to not just design the ship but to also give it a history and define every small detail on it to give it purpose.
Music Has Always Had a Special Place in Star Wars, and Outlaws is No Different
Q: Star Wars has some of the most iconic music in pop culture. Can you discuss your approach to the classic Star Wars soundscape and if you approached anything differently for Outlaws in this regard?
Roget II: Star Wars: Outlaws takes place during the original trilogy timeframe, and so my first point of reference was the classic John Williams sound – particularly the sound of Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope, as I felt that its focus on melody and nuanced yet direct orchestration would be appropriate for our character-driven story.
Beyond that, I also sought to create a new, modern, and unique sound for Outlaws that underscores the grungy and diverse world of Star Wars’ criminal underbelly. This involved using analog synthesizers, found percussion, instruments played in non-traditional ways, processed sounds, and world instruments to add color and depth to the scoundrel adventure.
Every character, faction, and planet has its own set of instruments, signature sounds, and musical themes. Every piece in the score has a blend of both the traditional Star Wars sound as well as the new Outlaws sound; as we go deeper into the criminal underground, processed and synthesizer-based sounds become more prominent.
Q: Krayt Dragons have looked drastically different in every iteration of them in Star Wars games and movies. What was your approach like for Krayt Dragons?
Podlesnigg: We were lucky that, during the production of the game, we had the Mandalorian fighting a (different) Krayt Dragon. We worked closely with LFL who made the show CGI model available to us so we could be as close to the reference as possible.
[END]