EA announces that Star Wars VR will focus on Rogue One
EA’s PlayStation VR-exclusive title now has a name.
During their gamescom livestream today, Criterion Games’ Pete Lake revealed that the experience will be called Star Wars Battlefront Rogue One: X-Wing VR Mission.
The virtual reality experience will be free starting this holiday for PlayStation 4 users who own the PlayStation VR headset, according to Lake.
“We’re going to live out that dream that everyone had—I had it when I was a kid—and put you in the cockpit of an X-Wing,” Lake said. “[We’ll] let you fly in space with the Rebels on a very important mission to shoot down those TIE fighters, jump through hyperspace, maybe even dabble with a Star Destroyer.”
Lake was coy regarding other details, saying that he couldn’t reveal “too much” about the experience. He was able to explain how it relates to the current Battlefront, however.
“This is an extension of the Star Wars Battlefront that everyone is hopefully playing already,” Lake said. “So if you have a PS4 you can get [Star Wars Battlefront VR] for free when it comes out.”
Lake also touched on how Criterion Games, which helped build the speeder bike mission already in Battlefront, collaborated with LucasFilm for the project.
“We’ve been working really closely with LucasFilm to make this the perfect time for this new movie,” he said. “It’s VR—the most exciting place to play right now—and it’s Rogue One—the most exciting Star Wars movie coming out this year—and we’re putting those things together at Criterion and we’re so happy to be working on the Star Wars franchise.”
While the experience won’t be available for the general public until later this year, those attending gamescom will be able to test it out this week.
Additionally, PlayStation’s official blog has a Q&A up with one of the producers for the experience at Criterion Games, James Svensson.
Svensson was able to elaborate further on the experience, which will indeed feature Star Destroyers.
“These things are huge and powerful with a belly full of TIE fighters,” he said. “Being in a fight with a Star Destroyer is not a situation an X-wing pilot wants to find themselves in, but that’s where the player ends up.”
He added: “The player will have to keep their wits about them, with intense battle ensuing from every direction, to keep them and their wingmen alive as they complete a critical mission for the Rebellion.”
Battlefront producer Paul Keslin and the game’s lead designer Dennis Brannvall will both be at gamescom, but I’ve yet to hear if we’ll get anything else regarding the game at the event.
