Everything we know about Oculus’ Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge is the next VR-only Star Wars game from acclaimed developer ILMxLAB. As another Oculus-exclusive title, it’s quickly becoming apparent that Oculus is the platform of choice when it comes to Star Wars VR titles. While Vader Immortal is seeing a release on PSVR in late August 2020, Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge has only been announced as an Oculus Quest exclusive game. That means even Oculus Rift players won’t get to experience the game.

Oculus Studios and ILMxLAB have partnered with the same folks who crafted the Smuggler’s Run attraction at Disneyworld and Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge theme park. The goal is to create a virtual reality game that matches the experience you can have at the theme park, albeit with more action, interactivity, and aliens than you’ll find at a theme park.

Jump to:

• Setting and Timeline
• Story and Characters
• Gameplay and Graphics
• Release Date and Platforms
• Tie-in with the Disney Galaxy’s Edge theme park

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge Setting and Timeline

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge takes place on the planet Batuu, with Blackspire Outpost acting as a hub for your travels around the planet. Batuu and Blackspire Outpost were made famous at Disney’s Florida and California theme parks in the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands. Players are said to be able to explore the entirety of Blackspire Outpost, as well as the “wilds of Batuu.”

The exact size and scope of the game have not yet been revealed, but it’s implied that Blackspire Outpost is the main hub of the game. Blackspire Outpost is a trading outpost that’s frequented by smugglers and gangs alike. Players will find themselves hanging out in cantinas and alleyways, speaking with locals and travelers alike. The initial announcement hinted that players should expect deep tie-ins with the real-life Disney theme park locations, but details on those specifics are scarce at this time.

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge takes place between “The Last Jedi” and “The Rise of Skywalker” movie timelines.

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge takes place between “The Last Jedi” and “The Rise of Skywalker” movie timelines as The First Order continues to take control of the Galaxy. The planet Batuu is located in the Outer Rim Territories, which, as the name suggests, is further away from a lot of the fighting and other events that might be happening in the struggle between The Resistance and The First Order, as seen in the movies and TV shows.

For reference, The planets Dagobah, where Yoda exiled himself to after Order 66, and Utapau, where Obi-Wan Kenobi killed General Grievous, are also located in the Outer Rim Territories. These planets were generally considered to be hideouts from the events happening in several Star Wars movies.

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge Story and Characters

In Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge, players will take the role of a droid repair technician who crash-lands on Batuu after pirates attacked their ship. Players will quickly find themselves thrust into the seedy underbelly of the Galaxy, thanks to the fact that Blackspire Outpost is a haven for smugglers and criminals of all types. Central to the story is Seezelslak, an Azumel bartender who knows everyone and everything in the outpost and is sure to score you a job or two along the way. Seezelslak’s storytelling skills are known far and wide, and it’s these stories that will lend variety to your missions in the game.

According to senior producer Alyssa Finley, Seezelslak will tell stories and “gives you a gateway into the world of Galaxy’s Edge.” Indeed, as the Azumel tells his tales, the player will get to live out those stories in VR.

Seezelslak is voiced by Bobby Moynihan from Saturday Night Live and Star Wars Resistance, while another character, Tara Rashin, is voiced by Debra Wilson from Mad TV and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Tara Rashin is a Quarren pirate who heads the local Guavian Death Gang pirates on Batuu and is on the search some something special on the planet. There’s little doubt this “something special” will be part of the central plot of the story, and could even be something with deep ties into Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. While we know Kylo Ren finds the Sith Wayfinder on Mustafar at the beginning of The Rise of Skywalker, there are plenty of unanswered questions in that movie that could be answered here.

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge Gameplay and Graphics

Little has been revealed about the gameplay itself so far, but we do know that ILMxLAB plans on letting players explore the entirety of Blackspire Outpost, as well as other parts of the planet Batuu. We fully expect the game to be played out as a first-person adventure, similar to the Vader Immortal trilogy. The bartender, Seezelslak, is said to open the gateway to the world of Galaxy’s Edge, and players will get the chance to live out his stories in the process. That likely means you’ll be playing as more than just the droid repair technician who aimlessly roams a far-off cantina.

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge is said to feature lots of blaster fights, deadly encounters with Guavian Death Gang pirates, and other harrowing adventures.

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge is said to feature lots of blaster fights, deadly encounters with Guavian Death Gang pirates, and other harrowing adventures. Players can also expect a vibrant world full of creatures and aliens to interact with, as well as plenty of distractions along the way. In addition to space darts and other pub games, players will find fully working jukeboxes in the cantina, and likely plenty of trinkets and items in the shops surrounding it.

ILMxLAB is working with the same special effects folks that worked on the Smuggler’s Run attraction at the Galaxy’s Edge Disney theme park land. The team cites that this is being done to perfectly match the theme and overall mood of the theme park so that players and patrons alike will feel like they’re stepping into the same world, no matter if it’s a physical or virtual version of that world. While the Oculus Quest isn’t the most powerful hardware in the world, the team is still going for a more realistic aesthetic rather than a cartoon-like one.

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge Release Date and Platforms

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge is set to release later in 2020 and will be a VR game exclusive to the Oculus Quest. ILMxLAB is developing the game and also developed the Vader Immortal trilogy of Star Wars games that released in 2019. Oculus Studios is publishing the game. There haven’t been any pricing announcements, and the game will release exclusively on the Oculus Store on the Oculus Quest.

Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge Tie-in with the Disney Galaxy’s Edge theme park

The developer, ILMxLAB, describes the game’s narrative “storyliving” instead of just “storytelling.” ILMxLAB describes this concept as a path where players become one with the story because it can be experienced in multiple ways with inherent consequences that come with a personal story. It’s not yet known whether or not this is alluding to an open-world scenario on its own, or if it means that the game has tie-ins with the real-world Galaxy’s Edge theme parks at Disney.

The name “Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge” comes directly from the theme park land at Disneyworld and Disneyland called Galaxy’s Edge. Given that both have the same setting, it’s expected that characters like the bartender Seezelslak (who already resides in Oga’s Cantina at the Galaxy’s Edge park) will weave tales that directly tie into what occurs in Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge as well as places to see at the theme park. It’s also likely that Disney will give players in-game and in-park incentives for running through both experiences, with bonuses that can only be experienced in both physical and virtual Galaxy’s Edge destinations.