Respawn Entertainment’s upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Survivor continues the adventures of Cal Kestis on Xbox Series and PS5. The next-gen Star Wars game aims to be a huge improvement over 2019’s Fallen Order, so much so that it couldn’t exist on PS4 and Xbox One.
Speaking to PLAY Magazine, game director Stig Asmussen explained why the new Star Wars game is next-gen only. While Fallen Order was a visual treat on last-gen machines, the Souls-like sci-fi game pushed them to their limits.
Asmussen explained that the massive additions to the upcoming sequel make it impossible to bring to Xbox One and PS4. With larger environments, higher enemy counts and massively improved visuals, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor just isn’t feasible on older consoles.
“[New consoles] allow us to create much larger maps with more detail, greater density, greater density, more enemy/NPC variety, and overall fidelity… we didn’t want to break what we did in the first game… we wanted to evolve/enhance the experience.”
The upcoming Star Wars game has made sweeping additions to the Jedi formula. For example, the game’s much larger maps have resulted in the addition of rideable animals that Cal Kestis can use to move around the environment. Additionally, players will be able to quickly fast travel due to the speed of the PS5 and Xbox Series console’s SSDs.
“We will feature both fast travel and rideable creatures to help players quickly get from point A to B, and back to A," Asmussen explained. “The fast-travel is point to point, and the rideable creatures offer a way to quickly negotiate between points and explore what is in between." That's got to be good news for those wanting to take Cal and BD-1 on a tour around Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's map.”
From the small snippets of gameplay we’ve seen, Survivor looks like a very worthy follow up to Fallen Order. With a darker, grander story and more complex combat systems, we’re very excited to wield a lightsaber with Cal Kestis once more.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor releases on April 28th, 2023 on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PS5 and PC.