5 Things We Want in Ubisoft’s Open World Star Wars Game
Ubisoft is currently in development of their own open world Star Wars game. This marks the end of the EA exclusivity that Star Wars has previously been tied to – meaning that EA will no longer be the sole publisher of all Star Wars licensed games. EA has had a hand in publishing Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, Star Wars: Squadrons, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. While this doesn’t mean that EA will halt their production of Star Wars games, as per a spokesperson in an interview with VGC, “We are proud of our long-standing collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, which will continue for years to come…We love Star Wars, and we look forward to creating more exciting experiences for players to enjoy.” The end of this exclusivity comes with the announcement of the Massive Entertainment developed open world Star Wars game that will now be published by Ubisoft. So what does this mean for the future of Star Wars games? More importantly, what do we want to see in Ubisoft’s open world Star Wars game?
5. Planets
If there’s one thing other than lightsabers and Jedi that Star Wars is known for, it’s gotta be the planets. Star Wars has some of the most beautiful, most intricate, and most intriguing planets in any science-fiction/space fantasy universe I’ve ever seen. From Ilum, to Dathomir, to the recent addition of Hetzal Prime in “Star Wars: Light of the Jedi,” the brand new novel set in the High Republic era. Given that this is an open world game, I absolutely expect a wide variety of planets and locations.
4. Fast travel
One of the most important aspects of an open world game is the ability (or inability) to fast travel. Fast traveling is a feature that is implemented in many open world games where the map is quite large and is used as a means of allowing the player to reach their destination quicker than walking through the entire map. While the goal of implementing fast travel is not to deter players from exploring the map, it’s more so there to ensure that players don’t feel as though traversing the map is more of a chore rather than a fun activity. If Massive implements a fast travel system into their open world Star Wars game, I really want it to make sense in the world. Instead of cutting to a black loading screen, I would love it if we were able to actually see our ship flying through the sky on the way to our destination, if we’re traveling to another planet, I want to physically go through Hyperspace.
3. Customization
While we don’t have many details about the game, most open world games tend to be RPGs (Role-Playing Games) and if this is the case, I really need some great customization. A character creator, weapon customization, ship customization, all of it. I loved the customization from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order with the various clothing options, but more specifically – the lightsaber customization. Fallen Order gave players the ability to customize their lightsaber down to the individual pieces and Kyber crystal. This was one of the coolest features in the game and I hope it returns in Ubisoft’s take on Star Wars. Although, we may not even be playing as a Jedi, so if that’s the case, I would very much like to customize whatever weapons we are given (or able to loot!)
2. Characters
One of the most important things in any video game, movie, book, or TV show are the characters. The characters are the backbone of any game and Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order had some absolutely phenomenal characters. Cal Kestis, Second Sister, Cere Junda, Greez Dritus, Nightsister Merrin, and even Saw Gerrera (a classic character from both Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels television shows) are all prime examples of these fantastic characters who had depth and amazing development. I would love to see even more of these great characters in Ubisoft’s game, maybe even a couple cameos from some EA games? I would love to see more Cal Kestis and it would be really cool to see more characters from The Clone Wars and Rebels make an appearance (looking at you Sabine and Kanan.)
1. Story
Last, but certainly not least, this open world Star Wars game has to have a fantastic story. Star Wars is filled with so many great stories even outside of the movies, there’s so much to take inspiration from and I can’t wait to see what Massive and Ubisoft has in store. Unfortunately, we don’t have any details about it at the moment, except for the announcement of its existence. I really hope that they deliver on the story side of the game. Who knows, maybe this is the revival of the cancelled Star Wars: 1313? Doubtful, but there’s always hope.