Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge park will be the next location for ILMxLab’s next title following 2019’s Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series.
In a release, the team stated they would be returning to Star Wars with a new storytelling experience that will “feature both new and iconic characters,” under multiple installments. While fans were able to live out their Jedi power fantasies in Vader’s Mustafar castle, Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge will be showing fans a new side of its planet Batuu and add new lore in the franchise’s Sequel Era. It will also feature more game-like mechanics, including “multiple styles of gameplay” and different levels of difficulty for new and experienced VR players.
According to ILMxLAb, Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge is set between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker with elements inspired by the look and feel of its reimagined universe. The story will also use the authentic theme park experiences given by Disneyland to create a similar interactive game. Like Vader Immortal, it would feature RPG-style dialogue and “one-way communication” to immerse players in The Outer Rim.
A concept image was also revealed by ILMxLab, showing off a sunnier locale with Batuu settlements sitting along twisty rivers. Canyons surround the villages, expanding Galaxy’s Edge‘s scope from a theme park to a living world. It’s likely the studio will continue building on the exploration mechanics from Vader Immortal while stitching in action and puzzle-solving. Under a new setting, it’s unknown whether or not players would get the ability to use the Force again or fight hordes of enemies in a replayable Dojo mode which made the VR experience worth returning to.
But in capturing Disneyland’s theme park, the existing Galaxy’s Edge attraction was built to let players live out their favourite Star Wars moments, similar to how ILMxLab followed a checklist of wish-fulfilling actions such as jumping a ship to hyperspace to fighting Stormtroopers in a large battle. The world of Batuu contains a smuggler-filled outpost which is occupied by The First Order during their war efforts against the Resistance. In Disneyland, Rebel spies and other otherworldly visitors also roam the outpost to greet guests and share banter.
All three episodes of Vader Immortal are coming to PlayStation VR in June 2020, while Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge was announced without production or release dates amid the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. As a collaboration with Oculus Studios, the game is expected to be a timed exclusive for the Oculus Rift, Rift S and Oculus Quest systems when it’s released sometime in the future.
