Star Wars Outlaws narrative director reflects on one-year anniversary, Nintendo Switch 2 port

Somehow, it’s already been a year since the launch of Star Wars Outlaws.

It’s a notable game for several reasons. For one, it was the first-ever full open-world Star Wars game, and it told a more grounded and relatable story about scoundrel Kay Vess trying to survive in the seedy underbelly of the Galactic Empire. On top of that, the game was a collaboration between many global Ubisoft studios, most notably lead developer Massive Entertainment in Sweden and Canada’s own Ubisoft Toronto. The latter studio is actually home to the game’s main narrative team, who worked closely with Venezuelan-Canadian star Humberly González (who received a Best Performance nomination at The Game Awards) on the Montreal- and Toronto-based performance-capture shoots.

The game has also grown a lot in the months following launch. On top of a slew of gameplay overhauls, Outlaws added two post-launch DLCs, Wild Card and A Pirate’s Fortune, featuring popular Star Wars characters Lando Calrissian and Hondo Ohnaka. And finally, a Nintendo Switch 2 version is about to launch on September 4. Notably, this will be the game’s first dedicated handheld iteration as the PC version isn’t officially supported on the likes of the Steam Deck or ROG Ally.

To look back on all of this, MobileSyrup sat down with Ubisoft Toronto’s Navid Khavari, narrative director on Star Wars Outlaws. He talked about what he’s most proud of with the game, the experience of writing for The Clone Wars and Rebels fan-favourite Hondo, his excitement for the Switch 2 version and why the Force is strong with Canadian game developers.

Note: This is a spoiler-free interview about Outlaws, so those who haven’t yet played the game, as well as those who have, can read it in its entirety.

Navid Khavari. Image credit: Ubisoft

We’re a year out from Star Wars Outlaws, which includes all these updates, these DLCs and all of the reception to the game. How are you feeling right now?

Navid Khavari: Feeling reflective. It snuck up on me a little bit. And honestly, just so proud. That’s what comes to mind. Knowing how much love, effort, time and passion the team put into it. It’s like, it came out, and then we just kept going with it, and the team just kept pushing. And so there’s so many gameplay updates now that have really improved the core experience. But on top of that, we’ve had two DLCs, and seeing how the fans have reacted to each.. The first one, Wild Card, was with Lando, so there were the folks that were maybe bigger fans of the original trilogy, like “I could see Lando and play with Lando!” That was alongside the [Ubisoft] Paris team, who had developed all the Sabacc minigames. So we got to fashion that all around Sabacc. And then, I got very, very excited because we got [Hondo actor] Jim Cummings for the second DLC, which is all about piracy, and Hondo Ohnaka, who is maybe top three favourite characters of all time for me. So it was surreal seeing Jim in the booth and the fans’ reaction to that was unreal.

So it’s weird. It is one year later, but not really. The game’s still alive and we’re still adding to it. So seeing the love that’s gone into that has been amazing. But also, the fan reaction. Just so they know, those Reddit folks on the Star Wars Outlaws Reddit — we see you! We love you, we see all the stuff you’re posting, and we send it amongst each other. And that kind of thing is priceless. I’m just going to carry that with me for the rest of my life. So it’s only love and joy and a bit of reflection.

You talked about getting to expand the world with the DLCs. Obviously, Lando was in the base games, but you got to play around a little bit more with him. And then Hondo, introducing him fully to Outlaws — what was that like? Especially for someone like Hondo, who has so many episodes, of Clone Wars and Rebels, how did you go about finding what kind of story you wanted to tell with him?

Hondo meets Kay and ND-5.

Khavari: Yeah, it’s interesting, because this goes back to even the main game. I grew up loving Star Wars, and so I came at it as a fan, but then you sort of have to put it on the shelf and think about, “What are we bringing that’s new, and also what are we bringing that’s going to be meaningful to folks?” So for the main game, it was, “This isn’t about a Jedi or Sith; this is an average person, average outlaw, getting thrown into a galaxy far, far away, and trying to survive in the underworld.” But then shifting to the DLCs, with Lando in Wild Card, we knew right away that we’ve sort of seen Lando move into the rebellion pretty quickly in the original trilogy. So we wanted to focus on a bit of Lando in the underworld — Lando doing sort of the Sabacc and the gambling side. And so it brought a different shade to it, I think, than you usually see.

And then, with Pirate’s Fortune, that was really special and a little daunting at first, because that’s a fan favourite character. That’s an incredibly well-written character. And I remember when we were pitching it to Lucasfilm, it was like, “Ah, yeah, are we gonna actually get to use Hondo?” And they were all for it. And then it was back on us of “Oh, okay, now we have to actually use Hondo!” And so the angle on it was really, because it takes place after the main campaign, “Kay Vess is a bit more established now, so what happens if she comes head-to-head with a rival scoundrel? Are they gonna hit it off?” And so that journey and that arc was really fun, because Hondo is almost, when Kay first meets him, a bit aspirational — a little bit of like, “Oh, that I could see. I could love that life, and I could love how he operates.” And so it brought out a new shade of Kay and her relationship with ND-5, because without spoilers, Hondo gets in the mix a bit.

But also with Hondo, we wanted to really just focus on him as the storyteller and go all in on piracy. That DLC, and if you want to experience the pirate life in Star Wars, we have focused all our attention on that. And so after we realized that, and after we got Jim in the booth and saw his own mannerisms of what he brings to it, it really just flowed organically after that. So I’m incredibly proud. I think the fan reaction to it — a lot of folks have said Hondo’s one of the best-written parts of the game, and that is incredibly special, because you’re on a legacy journey. Again, I go back to being proud.

That segues into my next question. Looking back on the last year, what would you say you’re most proud of, if you have to pick something. I know that’s probably like “picking a favourite child,” but maybe it’s a particular character you got to write, or a story moment, or even just something in the DLCs?

Kay and ND-5.

Khavari: I’m proud of so much, but I think the number one thing… I was thinking about the game the other day, and it’s really ND-5. I love Kay, I love Nix, but the idea of having a droid from the Clone Wars who is carrying that baggage with them, and also having to learn to navigate within the underworld? And also a droid with the duster — that sort of classic Western look. “A droid with clothes? What’s going on?” There was so much creativity and excitement.

And when we started working on that character, writing for ND-5 was one of the easiest things for me to do, and I think for the team as well. There was just something in the special sauce to that character that was a lot of fun. I’m incredibly proud of what our narrative team has done with the whole game, but me, personally, I definitely threw a lot of myself into ND-5. Like, look at this: aging game developer, crusty droid trying to navigate the underworld… [laughs] So I think that character is going to be in my heart for the rest of my life.

I don’t know how much you’d be able to answer this one. But talking to you before the game came out, there were obviously characters you couldn’t confirm are in the game, or aren’t in the game. Now that it’s out, I’m curious. Hypothetically, let’s say you’re able to do another DLC or TV show crossover or whatever, who else would you like to see Kay meet next, pie in the sky?

Khavari: Ohhhh, pie in the sky… I think Doctor Aphra [a morally questionable criminal archaeologist]. That would be bucket list. In the comics, she was just an amazing character, and I could see Kay bumping heads with Aphra and going on journeys together. That would be interesting.

Coinciding with the anniversary is the Switch 2 version. What are you most excited about for fans who haven’t played the game yet or maybe just want to give it another go on the Switch 2?

Khavari: Yeah, I’m excited that there’s a whole group of folks that are going to be introduced to Outlaws for the first time — a whole group of Switch fans that might have been waiting for it. And I’ve seen it, I’ve played it. It’s fantastic. It’s kind of surreal. I think I’m most excited that at this point they’re gonna get all of the updates. They’re gonna get both story packs, so they’re really getting the full Outlaws experience — the full campaign and the full open-world as finely tuned as you can imagine. So I think I’m most excited for that. I can’t wait to see their reaction. Also, for a game of this size and for its fidelity, to get to step into Star Wars, literally in the open-world — for that to be on the Switch, I think is going to blow some minds, so I’m really excited.

Obviously, this game was made in partnership with the massive team in Sweden. Not to discount what they’ve done, but there was also a big Canadian contingent network on the game. What is it about the Canadian games industry that you think is so special that it’s able to play such a key role in making a big Star Wars game like this?

An Outlaws table read at Ubisoft Toronto. From left to right: Humberly González (Kay Vess), Joel Labelle (Gadeek, standing in for Shadi Janho), Alex Crowther (a protocol droid, standing in for Robert Montcalm), Nikki Foy (lead writer), Khavari and Bogdan Draghici (realization director).

Khavari: In the broad dev industry senses, I’ve worked within Ubisoft Toronto, and I’ve been there since the beginning. And from the beginning, it was like a village of folks that were from Toronto, but also from all around the world. It’s almost like a microcosm of Toronto itself. So I think you get a diversity of perspectives that is so incredibly Canadian and so unique. And I think the other thing I was thinking about is that Canadians are told, “Yeah, you’re nice.” And we are nice. We’re nice folks. You’re very nice.

Thank you — you are, too!

Khavari: Thank you. But I think it’s also that we’re professional. And I think that, within Ubisoft Toronto and the folks that I’ve worked with across the sphere, like the narrative team in Toronto, we have the Junction cinematics team, the Junction mo-cap stage that’s used, Humberly and a lot of the actors are Canadian, the Montreal mo-cap [stage] that we shot in… There’s just an amazing level of professionalism. And I do not take that for granted. Sometimes that nice thing is Canadians are just professional and passionate and believe in what they’re doing.

The Massive folks are exactly the same — a very similar mentality. And I think that’s also why the collaboration with Massive worked so well from day one. You just know when you meet a team, from [former Outlaws creative director] Julian Gerighty to now [current creative director] Drew Rechner and the entire team. There’s a level of authenticity and professionalism that’s within Massive, within Toronto, that I’m honestly just going to cherish, and still cherish. It’s just an amazing diversity of perspective, and also a respect for each other and what we’re doing, and then a desire to just create something really special.

This interview was edited for language, clarity and length.

Star Wars Outlaws is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. The Nintendo Switch 2 version launches on September 4 for $79.99 and includes both story expansions and some additional DLCs.

Image credit: Lucasfilm/Ubisoft