The Art of Star Wars: Outlaws
A full-color art book collecting concept art and creator commentary from the first-ever open-world Star Wars game, set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Developed by Massive Entertainment in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, Star Wars Outlaws gives players the opportunity to explore distinct locations across the galaxy, both iconic and new, as Kay Vess—a scoundrel seeking freedom from her past with her companion Nix. As the unlikely heroes embark on a stars-spanning series of high-stakes missions, they constantly risk running afoul of rivaling gangs or falling into the clutches of the evil Galactic Empire.
The Art of Star Wars Outlaws explores the creation of this underworld adventure with an expertly designed assembly of thrilling imagery and intimate insights from the game’s creators. Now readers can get down and dirty as they acquaint themselves with charming rogues, plunge into alien environments, examine exotic tools and weapons, and see how Kay Vess was made to defy the odds.
Writer: Massive Entertainment
Publication Date: August 19, 2025
Page Count: 224 pages
ISBN-10: 1-50674-757-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-50674-757-6
Out since 30th August 2024 on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, Star Wars Outlaws has taken gamers on a journey on an action-packed adventure set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi following our heroes Kay Vess and her companion Nix as they encounter the Ashiga Clan, Crimson Dawn, the Hutt Cartel and the Pyke Syndicate while travelling from her homeworld of Cantonica to Toshara, Akiva and Tatooine in the Trailblazer, and with droid enforcer ND-5 recruiting a gang to steal a fortune. With so much to do, see and figure out throughout the game, the design process was vast and extensive, and on 19th August Dark Horse Books released The Art of Star Wars: Outlaws, allowing fans of Outlaws and the broader saga a chance to look inside the design and development of the game.
From concept art to early visualization sketches, giving us looks at roads untaken and the deveopment of things seen in the game, this is a surprisingly absorbing read packed with looks at worlds, characters and vehicles that in days past would have been co-opted by companies like West End Games and transformed into usable concepts. From the wildlife of Toshara to its topographical uniqueness, the book highlights that even if the game itslef never fully developed every concept to its completion, all corners of these words were thought through and investigated. Characters like Nix have a strong focus, with a surprising number of iterations to bring the design home, and across the book we see similar processes as characters, worlds and more are whittled down to their final forms.
The book breaks down into logical chapters, and after the introduction from Benedikt Podlesnigg (Art and World Director for Star Wars Outlaws), who charmingly explains how school conversations about the GFFA helped inform his ideas for this mammoth project, we enter into the first chapter; Conception. Here we see the first Blue Sky Images, giving a first impression of the game, the kind of scope they were aiming for and some key moments. It’s instantly evident that we’re in that post-Empire era, and as we progress we then begin to see early sketches on classic A5 Bristol boards, comic style. We see the weirdness of the Tosharan wildlife and the lakes and cities of Akiva, before exploring Locations (and there are some truly far-out, but engaging concepts here). We learn about Target Gameplay, which allows the team to track the development of the game and its design ahead of production before chapter two; Scoundrels.
Here we get our first real dive into Kay and Nix, with early iterations of her character and her weapons, based on real-world guns like Wild West revolvers, while Nix has a handful of pages of disparate designs, all honing in to the character we know from the game. Even ND-5 went through a swathe of iterations until they landed on the final character, and that follows through the chapters as we go. The crew, the adversaries, the rebel cell, all beautifully rendered as we get to chapter three and Cantonica, Kay’s homeworld.
Taking its cues from The Last Jedi, the world here is still in a state of development, taking elements from Doctor Aphra which has seen our errant archaeologist travel to Canto Bight in this era. However, unlike the film we see the workers district, some of the less classy cantinas (like the Broken Hoof) and one of its oldest buildings, the Crescent Royals Casino and Club Tarsus, a music venue. The book continues in thie vein, taking us to Toshara, Tatooine, Akiva and Kijimi before digging into the technology of Outlaws where we look at speeders, the central ship the Trailblazer, pirate, syndicate and civilian ships, droids of all kinds and then a dip into some of the ‘props’ that make up a location; arcade machines, food stalls, food and more.
The final chapter ‘Defy The Odds’ looks at how the entire endeavour was brought together, via motion capture, storyboards (LOTS of storyboards) and the marketing program and trailer which let the world know about the game. It’s worth remembering that we live in a world where a game like GTA 6 costs $2bn to produce and develop, while a film like The Mandalorian & Grogu costs (so we understand) closer to $175m. That disparity is shocking, but the levels of craft and design are much the same, and while we obviously place our focus on the canonical, linear nature of film, animation and TV we should also keep an eye on these worlds in the digital realm, worlds that fill out the galactic map, where future books, comics and films could concievably visit. Hats off to the team behind this release, which very much makes (as it should) Outlaws feel as integral a part of the wider Star Wars story as any other method of storytelling. This isn’t based on Star Wars; this IS Star Wars.
