The "Star Wars" universe is massive, replete with all manner of intriguing locations, characters, and storylines that fans adore passionately. So, if you're DICE and you're designing the new Star Wars Battlefront, how do you decide what makes it into a single, standalone game?
We recently got the chance to speak with Battlefront Senior Producer Sigurlina Ingvarsdottir about that very subject. She explained that what you'll see in Battlefront represents the "absolute core" of the overall "Star Wars" universe.
"I wouldn't say that we've designed it by committee. We have a very strong, very competent design lead. But, basically, what we've taken is what to us is the core of 'Star Wars,'" she said. "'Star Wars' is so vast, there's so many things in 'Star Wars' that are beloved by so many. And so they are hard choices.
"We selected what we felt was the absolute core of 'Star Wars.' And people can then debate that endlessly whether this is more core than that. Or why do you have this and not this. We can't do everything, unfortunately."
With the exception of a new planet called Sullust, everything we've seen so far from Battlefront is immediately recognizable to "Star Wars" fans. Whether it's planets like Hoth or Endor, or characters like Darth Vader or Han Solo, it's clear that DICE has chosen some of "Star Wars'" most iconic elements.
Also in our interview, Ingvarsdottir discussed how Battlefront will be similar -- and different -- to DICE's most iconic franchise, Battlefield. Though Battlefront may borrow some elements from Battlefield, DICE wants fans to know that Battlefront is very much its own game.
"Battlefield is our heritage at DICE, and I think what's great for us is that we have a team that's a mixture of Battlefield veteran developers and developers like myself who have never worked on a Battlefield game," she explained. "So we have a mix of people.
"I don't think people would argue that DICE is the master of epic-scale and vehicular gameplay. And obviously that fits so well with what we're doing here [with Battlefront]. But at the same time, there are other aspects of Battlefield that...we've kind of taken some of the aspects of what made Battlefield great and added them into our game. And then we've gone in a very different direction on other aspects of it. We want Battlefront to be its own thing, have its own unique ID, and be its own unique experience. But of course there's a lot that people will recognize."
She concluded, "In a way, DICE is a premiere developer of FPS shooters, and obviously we bring such a great amount of experience and knowledge to the game."
Battlefront launches for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 17.
