Massive defends glitches in ‘complex’ game

The journey to the first-ever open-world Star Wars game has had intrigue, interest and for those with early access, some bugs and glitches.

Some pre-release players of Star Wars Outlaws have reported problems with game progression, being stuck in certain parts of the game and issues with saving, with studio Ubisoft now advising of possible fixes.

But the early issues are a source of slight frustration for Julian Gerighty, creative director for Massive Entertainment, which made the game.

“When you have millions of players step into your world, you’d rather it not happen,” he tells BBC Newsbeat.

“It’s one of those things that we’ll keep a look out for, keep correcting and keep improving.”

But he believes it is partly a product of their ambition for this game, particularly compared to previous generations.

“I think it’s very important that the bigger the game is, the more systems you have, the more complex that it’s going to be.

“It’s also the joy of video games, of being able to step into these worlds and sometimes [these] things happen,” he says.

Outlaws is set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, with players following the story of Kay Vess, a “scoundrel” wanting freedom and the means to start a new life, navigating through the galaxy’s crime syndicates.

The reviews of the game have so far been mixed.

IGN has given a “good” rating, saying it is “a fun intergalactic heist adventure with great exploration, but hindered by simple stealth, repetitive combat, and a few too many bugs at launch”.

Eurogamer says Outlaws “isn’t a squeaky clean game on a technical level, with a few rough points amid a general trend of brilliance”.

PC Gamer describes Outlaws as “everything good and bad about big-budget open world excess”.

“There is so much going on between its main quests, side quests… yet fundamental fun video game stuff like getting from place to place falls flat,” it writes.

Gamespot gives it a “fair” rating, saying “the unexciting space combat and unrewarding syndicate-relationship tracker don’t add anything meaningful to the experience”.

But it points out the game has success when “it comes to gunslinging or sneaking, both of which are aided by a superb soundtrack”.

Compared to previous games, they’ve been able to do more this time around, Julian says.

“[Things like] the density of cities… the city’s streets, to a densely populated market town to your spaceship. And then blast off into orbit completely seamlessly with no loading.”

But trying to go bigger has not been simple in terms of design.

“It’s a real technical challenge with the speeds.

“It can only be achievable with this generation of consoles,” he says, adding that previously it would have been “completely impossible” to achieve the same scale due to the limits of technology.

“I think the game really flies when people step into their own role-playing of being a scoundrel and an outlaw and they follow their own path.

“That’s where the world comes together and you really feel like you’re a part of Star Wars,” he says.

The Star Wars fanbase, like many notable franchises, has passionate fans scrutinising every last detail.

And Julian appreciates the importance of feedback from them.

“If you look at the history of Massive Entertainment, the community is such a vocal part of making things better and improving the game.

“We see it as more of an opportunity to examine how we can push things further in the future. And that’s going to be a part of the action plan on this game, too.

“I think you have to look at it through the lens of your creative vision as well as good faith and bad faith takes,” he says.

“So there’s a lot of things that we can do to improve the experiences. But it always has to be through the lens of the creative filter.”

And Julian is also aware of the place of Outlaws in the wider universe – crediting development group LucasFilm Games for its guidance.

“[We need] to make sure that we understand what else is being made within the galaxy, of different media elements from publishing to TV to movies.

“We know more or less how we fit within that, without spoiling any of the other entertainment pieces that are coming out or have to come out.”

Reflecting on Outlaws, Julian feels a sense of pride.

“It’s equal parts thrilling and terrifying, always a joy to launch something.

“Letting it go into the wild and wanting people to have the best possible experience. It’s always a little bit scary at the same time.”

But after celebrating, there will be an evaluation of “how people are playing the game”.

“Where the real points of joy are, and frustration as well. How do we address those things in later updates?”

He shares in the next year or so, the team is planning to launch downloadable content (DLC) – extra content that can be downloaded for games after they’ve been released.

“With every single DLC, it’ll be a moment for us to update, improve and make sure that the experience is as good as it can be,” he says.

Star Wars Outlaws is due to be widely released on 30 August.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.