We’ve been talking about this new Lego Star Wars game and I’ve gotta tell ya, I am excited about it! Traveler’s Tales has been bringing us great Lego games for a very long time now.
In fact, they’ve been putting out at least one per year for more than 15 years now. Some of those years, the UK developer put out as many as three Elgo games.
They’ve made games on all your favorite famous IPs and franchises and it has been a long, glorious ride.
While Lego has made their presence in video games before this, but it was the release of 2005 Lego Star Wars: The Video Game that really launched the Lego game fad.
In the time that has passed since that first game, they’ve sold of 200 million copies of Lego games and over $2 Billion in revenue. TT Games will see itself come full circle next year when they release the latest – Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.
The studio’s game director since 2006, James McCloughlin, spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about this journey and the rise of TT Games. You can read that full interview here, but here’s a snippet:
The iconic minifigs are a natural fit as playable video game characters, and the studio has always injected a little charming humour that suits this visual style while still staying true to the films.
With such rich universes on offer, TT Games always wanted to give players the freedom to switch between characters, and to make the game accessible by having a clear progression path — in the case of the first Lego Star Wars, linear levels but with a few surprises to reward exploration.
“Those have remained foundations in the games we’ve produced since,” McCloughlin tells GamesIndustry.biz. “At the same time, though, the teams have always worked hard to introduce novel elements and features with each title — open-world hub gameplay, original stories, voice acting, and much more — to keep each new game fresh.”
They go on to discuss how the studio was pleased with the game, but not sure how well it would be received. Would the style cause people to play it off as a kids’ game only?
“We knew the game was special, and fun, and that we loved it, but we didn’t have any clear or researched sense of how players or the market would respond,” said McCloughlin. “Initial success at launch was a relief — and after a few months, supported by word of mouth amongst gamers, we found that success was far, far outstripping even our most optimistic expectations.”
I can absolutely agree and see why the game is doing so well in projections. You can see how the Lego games have truly evolved over time and this one is set to bring something fans of the genre can appreciate but new players will also enjoy.
I really love how TT Games builds the title to what the fans would want. It shows in their games and it’s one reason I am so excited about a new Lego Star Wars game.
We will keep you posted on anymore updates that come out about this game between now and launch time.
