Star Wars VR game Tales from the Galaxy's Edge will expand Disney Park experience
Lucasfilm is using the Galaxy's Edge experience from Disney Parks as inspiration for a new virtual-reality game.
ILMxLAB, the immersive entertainment studio behind the VR title Vader Immortal, will now develop Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge in collaboration with Oculus Studios.
The Galaxy's Edge park experience brings to life the Black Spire Outpost on the remote frontier planet of Batuu with various shops, restaurants, and attractions. Tales from the Galaxy's Edge will tell an original story set at this same destination between the events of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
"New and iconic" Star Wars characters will feature in the game, which features "multiple styles of gameplay and difficulty settings to accommodate a wide variety of players, from Star Wars fans to VR gamers alike," according to a press release.
A big selling point for those unable to travel to either Disney World in Florida or Disneyland in California is the ability to experience some part of Galaxy's Edge at home. Even as Disney sets plans in motion to begin reopening parks after months-long closures due to coronavirus, this can be one way for anxious guests still wary of public spaces to interact remotely. A first-look image offers a glimpse of what to expect.
Chris Voy/Lucasfilm
For ILMxLAB, the draw is developing a different kind of storytelling, as executive-in-charge Vicki Dobbs Beck remarked in a statement. "This action-packed adventure not only speaks to the promise of connected and complementary experiences by extending the lore around Black Spire Outpost, it represents another meaningful step in ILMxLAB’s quest to transition from storytelling – one-way communication – to storyLIVING, where you’re inside a world making consequential choices that drive your experience forward."
For Disney, there's promise in expanding more of the Galaxy's Edge experience for dedicated park-goers. “The rich storytelling in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has redefined what a Disney park experience can be, and we are thrilled fans will have an opportunity to discover new stories, meet new characters and explore new regions of the planet Batuu in Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge,” Scott Trowbridge, a creative executive from Walt Disney Imagineering, said in a separate statement. “Now our guests can immerse themselves in these stories both inside and outside our parks.”
A release date for the game hasn't been announced, but ILMxLAB promises it will arrive later this year.
Related content:
