Director Jose Perez III Reveals How Star Wars: Beyond Victory Was Built

In a recent interview with ILM, Star Wars: Beyond Victory director Jose Perez III pulled back the curtain on the game’s creative journey, design choices, and what it’s like balancing legacy lore with fresh experimentation.

If you’ve been curious how a mixed reality (MR) Star Wars experience comes to life, this is your behind-the-scenes pass.

What Beyond Victory Really Is

Perez begins by framing Beyond Victory not as a single-mode title, but a playset with three distinct ways to play:

Adventure mode: A narrative arc following a young podracer navigating loss, aspiration, and fame.
Arcade mode: A replayable MR twist on old-school arcade racing, reimagined for holotable-style action.
Playset mode: The sandbox element — bring digital Star Wars toys to life, scale them, and let them interact in your physical environment.

He described this layered structure as something that mirrors how fans engage with Star Wars: watching the story, playing the game, and rearranging toys on the floor as kids. Beyond Victory aims to be all three, in one MR package.

Perez’s Role: More Than Just “Director”

Being the credited director doesn’t mean just calling cuts. For Perez, it meant:

Story creation & iteration: He developed the original narrative seed, then worked alongside writers to give it texture and depth.
Design oversight: He worked daily with artists, engineers, level designers, and production staff, shaping how movement, visuals, and interaction felt in MR space.
Casting & performance direction: He influenced voice casting, led performance capture sessions, and served as a bridge between technical systems and emotional beats.
Visual identity & feel: His vision helped unify the look, tone, and pacing across all three modes so the experience feels cohesive despite the varied gameplay styles.

He describes that process as deeply iterative — honesty, critique, and mutual trust were crucial. This project was never about ego; it was about what works, what feels right, and what the player will actually enjoy.

Design Decisions Worth Pausing Over

Perez shared several design choices that reflect both restraint and ambition:

Third-person top-down podracing: Rather than forcing a first-person racer in MR (which can be disorienting), they opted for a 3D diorama/holotable approach. It’s a balance between spectacle and readability in MR space.
Legacy vs. invention: He frequently returned to the question: “How do you push boundaries while still being Star Wars?” The answer involved a smaller, personal story and care with how the camera moves within virtual/real hybrid spaces.
Three distinct modes, one style: Each mode was treated like its own “mini-project,” but with consistent UI, visual language, and pacing so transitions feel natural.
Accessibility in MR: Knowing MR is new for many, they designed onboarding experiences and visual cues to make the jump easier — treating each user interaction like a possible first time with immersive tech.

Inspirations & Echoes from the Saga

The podracing culture of The Phantom Menace served as a touchstone for Beyond Victory, providing both the adrenaline and nostalgia for some sequences. Perez also cited how MR allowed them to nod to familiar Star Wars lore without forcing large-scale galactic plots.

He emphasized that innovation in this project wasn’t about rewriting the saga—but adding new rooms to the mansion. Beyond Victory tells stories that sit beside the canonical ones, not above them.

Moments That Felt “Star Wars”

One behind-the-scenes anecdote stands out: hearing voice actors — like Greg Proops as Fode, or Lewis MacLeod as Sebulba — deliver lines in the booth, giving life to these characters. Combined with a score that weaves in recognizably familiar themes, Perez says those were the moments when he felt, “Yes — this is Star Wars.”

Takeaways: What Perez’s Insights Promise

Beyond Victory is ambitious without being overwhelming.
Its story feels personal, not epochal — a good choice for MR.
Perez is clearly a director who cares about subtleties — pacing, transitions, voice, and cohesion over spectacle alone.
The balance between innovation and franchise respect is being handled deliberately, not haphazardly.

If Beyond Victory is going to expand how we see Star Wars in interactive form, this kind of behind-the-scenes transparency gives confidence it’s being built thoughtfully—and with love.

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