Director Julian Gerighty also talks about the inspiration behind Toshara and building Tatooine using the concept of “virtual tourism.”

Ubisoft Motive revealed some new details for Star Wars Outlaws at San Diego Comic-Con, discussing the scoundrel fantasy and how it designed planets like Toshara. While speaking to IGN, director Julian Gerighty revealed that players can travel to Tatooine and even undertake missions for Jabba the Hutt. You can even betray him, though there are consequences.

As for Toshara, showcased in the debut gameplay, it’s inspired by the African Savannah with open plains that are great for speeder traversal. “We start with a biome, in this case, southeast African biomes, as an inspiration, and then you put a twist on it to make it feel a little bit alien. If you think of the first shots, maybe not the first shots, but the first shots of Tatooine. Beautiful, recognizable architecture, but two suns.

“For us, it’s having this huge mountain and carved into it, into the amberine of the mountain, the crystalline substance is a city, and these outcroppings of orange, very reflective material. That’s what brings the alien nature to it. Familiar but fresh.”

Matt Martin, senior creative executive at Lucasfilm, brought up the “80/20” rule, which involves creating locations that are 80 percent familiar to the real world. The other 20 percent is alien, and in Toshara’s case, can be seen with the crystal outcroppings and city.

“When we first thought about where to bring Kay. Lucasfilm Games encouraged us to create our own locations, and Toshara was born out of that challenge. How would Massive build that open world? That hive of scum and villainy.”

As for Tatooine, Gerighty said, “If you close your eyes and give people a choice to go anywhere in Tatooine? Mos Eisley. And specifically one watering hole in Mos Eisley. The opportunity is that you can see all the nooks and crannies.

“You can see all the things that are informed by the Lucasfilm archives. This concept of virtual tourism is important to us. If you’ve ever wondered about the distances from the moisture farms to the cantina? We have an experience for you.”

While the development team didn’t reveal how many planets you could travel to, it previously revealed that each is about the size of two to three zones from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Star Wars Outlaws releases in 2024 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.