Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is arguably one of the most highly-anticipated games of the year, finally continuing the story of Cal Kestis and BD-1 following 2019's Fallen Order. Just as the first entry, the game is a collaboration between developer Respawn Entertainment and publisher EA, which partnered with Lucasfilms for the project. Slated to release next month, Survivor takes places five years after the events of Fallen Order, and will introduce new locales and characters.
An entirely new planet called Koboh was created for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, featuring an expansive landscape to explore and many secrets to uncover. Cal and BD-1 first travel there in search of Greez, whom players will recognize from Fallen Order, with the Mantis ship unexpectedly failing upon their arrival. The subsequent search for spare parts to repair it serves as catalyst for the game's main storyline, sending Cal and BD-1 on a journey to locate the anomaly known as Tanalorr.
Screen Rant sat down with Technical Director Jon Carr and Lead Producer Paul Hatfield to discuss crafting the world of Koboh, expanding on in-game mechanics, and the evolution of Cal's story in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
Screen Rant: What was it like crafting this brand-new world of Koboh from the ground up and embedding that Star Wars lore into the environment?
Jon Carr: So in of crafting it, my opinion is going to be heavily skewed towards engineering. It was a big undertaking, it's a very ambitious world that we created in of scale and scope. A lot of things had to come together to make what you saw in there and what it is today, between managing all of the different art and the assets that went into it, all of the design elements that went into it. We have a lot of systems that kind of impact each other at different times from different sides of the map. And so you know that world I think was ambitious is probably how I would describe it. In of bringing the vision to fruition, you [Paul Hatfield] probably have a better relationship with Lucas[film] in of trying to manage the vision that we've set forth and how to deliver that.
Paul Hatfield: Yeah, I think Koboh is special in a lot of the ways that Jonathan's mentioning. But what's interesting about it is it's one of the first areas that we've worked on throughout the whole project. And what's fun about it is usually when we're early in production, design is just coming up with fun stuff, what they call action blocks. Ascension cables are one of those things, movable dynamic platforms that you see in the tar. So there's all these action blocks that we're placing that are just fun to do and to run through. That was really exciting to put that together.
And also, as Jon was mentioning, the scope of the world shows up right in front of your face, and that was one of the things we really wanted to hit on was when you land on this planet you come over the expanse of the valley, and you have that moment of just being like, "There's 100 things I can see and 100 things I could do just from this one vantage point." From the narrative point of view, it was kind of tied in with that, because when people get their hands on the game and play through everything, you'll realize that all these areas in the vista are critical to the story and moving forward. So it was really a partnership between design and story. We have these cool action blocks and we have these amazing vistas and set pieces, so let's make sure that there's a really good reason that you're going to experience all of it.
What made this sort of environment conducive to telling the story? Why start the narrative there and make it so key when you're deg?
Paul Hatfield:So what makes the planet really interesting and what sets it up for the rest of the project is that anomaly that you see in the distance, that really is key to the story. And you know, we're in the Outer Rim, this is kind of far away from everything that's going on in the galaxy. Cal is trying to essentially get away from a lot of stuff that's chasing him and coming after him, so we needed to be not in the center of the universe, this is somewhere that we're looking to escape, and we felt that Koboh hit that.
Jon Carr: It does have that off the beaten path feel to it as you interact with the beginning elements and whatnot. And then as players go through the story and experience it, I think they'll see how it develops through time.
What are the biggest changes you think are present in Jedi: Survivor compared to the first entry?
Paul Hatfield: So we don't really use the term changes too much when we talk about the game. I think one of the first things we talked about when we started on the second project, a lot of the points put across to the team were very rooted in what we developed in the first project, but essentially polishing and expanding and bettering all those systems. So, you know, the first game was our first project as a team, and we learned a lot of stuff. And we also have a giant bucket list of if we had unlimited time, we wish we could do all these things. So that's what this project is to us, let's find that bucket list of all those things we wish we could have done on the game. Let's evolve as much as we can, and also take the systems that maybe we had to 80 or 90 percent up to 110 percent.
Jon Carr: I think there's also a narrative element to it, where Cal has evolved over the course of a couple of years since the first game, and he's developing more of his abilities as a Jedi. And so part of what you see in the demo you're playing is that you get access to more combat moves and stances, and I think that all kind of speaks to that narrative.
You mentioned this bucket list, and I'm sure you can't reveal everything, but are there certain bucket list items that made it in that you're especially proud of?
Paul Hatfield: Customization is a big thing. We can talk about that. It was something with the first game where I say we took something to maybe 80 percent, that's something that we felt as a team we could have done better if we'd had the additional time. And so with this project, day one we knew we wanted to expand it, and that's exactly what we did. I mean, I run around with a mullet all the time when I play. [Laughs] It makes it so much more Star Wars to me that you can kind of make your own Cal; he still obviously is a protagonist, and he has a personality, but when it comes to player expression, that's a huge thing and I think people are really gonna like that.
Jon Carr: We've also pushed the boundaries in of, like scope and capability of the tech that we've built. The environment is much larger, we've put a lot of time into more advanced lighting systems, the texture and fidelity throughout the environment is pretty robust. And so there's a lot of kind of pushing forward the tech that we've got to achieve a lot of it.
In of either narrative or gameplay, without giving too much away, what sort of things are you most excited to see player reactions to once the game comes out?
Paul Hatfield: Stuff we can't tell you. [Laughs] Yeah, I mean, that's a good question. Yeah, a lot of the stuff we can't tell you about, because I think what Respawn and this team is really cool about is that we do put all this fun stuff in and we really do keep it for the players. It's not something we want to flash out and have everybody see. It's something we want people to experience for themselves. I think narratively, like our past projects, you'll see things that you're familiar with and things that you're not so familiar with. So if you're a fan of the narrative, the story of Star Wars, it is kind of a pivotal thing you should experience, just a lot of stuff.
Jon Carr: Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I mean, we really like getting from the fans that play the game, and we do a lot with that and we always take things into consideration. But yeah, for me, it's again, also things that we can't talk about too much. [Laughs] Yeah, it's unfortunate.
You touched a little bit on this, but as you said, Cal has evolved over the past couple of years. How would you describe the sort of head space that he's in narratively as we're beginning this new game?
Jon Carr: So Stig [Asmussen] had a comment at the very opening of the demo that I think is apt, which is "on the run." You know, he's being pursued by the Empire, and I think that you can tell by the way he looks, and he feels a little bit more mature; I think that that's weighed on him a bit. And without going into too many other details - I'll probably have to just leave it there, because we want the players to be able to experience what is going on, and I think that we try to give people more and more glimpses into his head space as the game progresses.
Paul Hatfield: I'd say for me, a lot of the first game, it was essentially a relentless pursuit; the entire time the Inquisitors are coming after him. Now we're a little further along, he's smarter, he has more tools, he has more skills. So it almost feels like narratively, a lot of the choices that he's making are choices that he's deciding on as opposed to these outside forces that are forcing him into these positions. And for me, that's what I find really interesting about the narrative of this game, and what sets up nicely on Koboh the conversation with Greez about how he's saying, "You've got to slow down." And Cal's consciously making the decision of, do I want to slow down, or do I want to keep fighting, or do I want to run? So it's really about exploring his personality. He's really interesting.
And as you said, the customization elements now really help the player feel more immersed in the overall story. Can you talk about developing that Workbench system a little bit?
Jon Carr: Well, we have a wonderful UI UX team, and they do a fantastic job of putting together fun moments. So I think prototyping and exploring with them was always a blast, because we get to watch what they come up with. There's a lot of collaboration, though, we have a lot of different teams that are working on the same goal. And so as they work on an idea and want to bring it to fruition, you know, there's a lot of effort that goes into the art that's required for it, and the design elements of it, and the engineering side of it, as well as just getting everything to run without wheels falling off and whatnot. For me, I think that it's just a really collaborative kind of experience.
Paul Hatfield: My exposure is very much on the art side of the concepts of a lot of the stuff that we made. And that was really fun, because we essentially told our concept team, "We want to make customization - go make stuff." So they were just dropping some amazing ideas. And obviously, we would go through it as a team and decide which ones will work and which ones won't work for Cal. We'll work with Lucasfilm to decide what looks right, what fits the universe. That's where the fun comes in, of having these conversations like, "It's a mullet. Is that cool, Cal?" [Laughs]
But at the same time, it's like half the studio, we have screenshots of the game and half of them have these hilarious mullets, and people love it. So it was that balance of like, "What is cool, but what's also kind of Star Wars and fun and goofy?" And I think that's what's cool about this game is that we're still embracing the seriousness of Cal's journey, but also the fun side of the Star Wars universe, and you can see that in the outfits and the hair and everything that we've got.
I would love to hear more just about the sort of balancing in general, whether it's balancing the seriousness of his story with more lighthearted elements or balancing lore-wise, incorporating that existing universe with brand new stuff. What is walking that line like for you guys?
Paul Hatfield: We talk a lot. [Laughs] A lot of talk that, to boil it all down, essentially what happens very early on is that our story team will come up with their through line of "this is what the game is gonna look like." And that kind of starts the conversation between our internal team and Lucasfilm, and they just go back and forth and back and forth. Not to make it sound like it's a drudge, because it's really actually great the fact that we're getting that from another place. Because, you know, the strength of Lucasfilm is they know everything that's going on in the universe, whereas we're really focusing on Cal and BD-1 and their stories. So really, it's just a collaboration on a lot of Zoom calls, a lot of sharing and being open to from each other.
Jon Carr: And I think that, you know, we have different departments that are looking at the game through slightly different lenses. Where I know we talked about engineering, but we have the narrative side of things, we have the design pillars, about how they're controlling the character and engaging with the environment. How does that either complement or counter, in some situations, a narrative beat that we're trying to pick up on? And I think that the collaboration and lots of Zoom calls and conversations allows us to all push on each other a little bit and find a nice equilibrium to get it to be just what we're all looking for.
Is there anything else that you want players to know about this game?
Paul Hatfield: For me, I just think you should play it. Because I know you can look at it on a screen and have a lot of thoughts about what you think it should look like or feel like. But what this studio and this game team does best is how it feels when you're on the sticks. And there's just a lot of freedom that you can find through traversal and combat that you're really only going to be able to do if you've got your hands on it. So I just hope people play it and see the depth of what we have there.
Jon Carr: Yeah, I would plus one that very much, but I would also add that players should feel free to explore. We've crafted a lot of really cool stuff everywhere for people to go and find, and so I definitely encourage players to explore and look around.
Source: EA Star Wars/YouTube
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will release April 28 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.