Lucasfilm Games are not only going to greenlight massive, sprawling Star Wars games going forward. Following the successful launch of Star Wars Galactic Racer and Zero Company, there’s a clear appetite for projects with a smaller budget and a limited scope compared to DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront games or Respawn’s Jedi games for example.
In a new interview with The Games Business, Lucasfilm Games Vice President Douglas Reilly was about the future of Star Wars games. Host Chris Dring asked the Lucasfilm Games head if we should expect more AA, high quality Star Wars games as opposed to large, AAA projects? Reilly confirmed that yes, smaller projects are integral to the strategy for Lucasfilm Games going forward but won’t be every game. Here’s Doug’s quote transcribed below:
“It [smaller games] very much is part of the strategy. Obviously, making the big huge AAA games like Battlefront and other kinds of things, they’re always going to be a central part of the strategy. One of the great things about Star Wars is it has all kinds of other opportunities to tell stories in different genres. And so the goal has really been find the best partner who makes that experience come alive inside the galaxy far far away.”
Reilly goes onto explain how and why smaller scope/budget Star Wars games will continue to exist.
“It doesn’t have to always be AAA. Sometimes it can be AA. And and it’s really about the experience that we’re delivering and the fantasy we’re fulfilling. And sometimes those fantasies aren’t AAA fantasies there. Sometimes they’re smaller in scale, smaller in scope. They’re more narrow in their ambition but it gives us the ability to take something, a very iconic moment from the movies, that people love. Then pick it out and pull it and express it in a different way where people can be part of it and learn something new about the galaxy far, far away in ways that the rest of the franchise won’t do and we have that ability to do that.”
Another thing worth noting is Lucasfilm’s point of view on types of projects. The VP states that he and his team “don’t think of it (Galactic Racer) as AA in terms of its execution of a great Star Wars experience to the team’s credit is very much a AAA experience.”
The only differences they see are the scope of the game and its budget. He also adds that not every game has to be “everything in the kitchen sink” and the game’s can just “stop“. Perfect examples are Squadrons, Galactic Racer and Zero Company.
In other Star Wars gaming news, Galactic Racer is getting more content developers Fuse Games have big plans; learn more here.
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