Star Wars Outlaws Creative Director Julian Gerighty shared why he describes the game’s protagonist Kay Vess as a “much more modern protagonist.”
A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
Speaking with Game Informer, Gerighty first shared his assertion, “I think she’s a much more modern protagonist than we usually see in games.”
He then explained, “She’s somebody who is very much a street thief who gets thrown into things that are beyond her control, and that she kind of has to think her way out of, and that makes it a little bit more relatable than somebody who has all the confidence and sarcasm and just comes off as somebody who is not believable.”
He added, “So having her be relatable in that way was something extremely important for us.”
A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
Gerighty previously told Edge Magazine via Games Radar that his team intentionally tried to make the character more relatable by having her be a rookie.
He explained that the team wanted her to be “a little bit more relatable.” So they made her “more of a rookie, a petty thief, who ends up in a situation that’s much bigger than they ever expected.”
A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
Game Director Mathias Karlson also claimed Vess is relatable because she’s not a Jedi. Karlson said, “I think it’s very relatable as a human being on planet Earth that this character doesn’t have any magical powers or properties beyond her daring, her skills, her tools, and her buddy Nix.”
“The personality type is also perfectly suited for going on a swashbuckling adventure. I think that’s something I really resonated with thinking about this character in terms of building a game and gameplay around it,” he added.
Concept art for Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
The game’s Associate Art Director Marthe Jonkers also confirmed the company and its employees spent a significant amount of time designing the character especially her look.
Jonkers shared, “We put a lot of care into her design and what she’s wearing and how she looks to tell her story. She has a lot of elements in her design that tell a bit of her story. For example, she has a broken nose. She’s been through a lot; you can see that she has scars and stuff.”
“She also has a hairpin; I love that element because she uses that to lockpick doors, and you can use that from the beginning to do some thieving,” she added.
Key art for Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
The character’s design has been heavily criticized since it was first revealed. Back at the beginning of March, X user MangaLawyer shared two side by side photos of Kay Vess alongside actress Humberly González, who plays the character.
The user wrote, “Total Videogame character assassination by feminist developers: Star Wars Outlaws 2024.”
He added, “They are taking all the beautiful models and turning them into chestless Karens.”
Total Videogame character assassination by feminist developers: Star Wars Outlaws 2024
They are taking all the beautiful models and turning them into chestless Karens 💀 pic.twitter.com/OSPMstsaMh
— LearningTheLaw (@Mangalawyer) March 5, 2024
What do you make of Gerighty’s comments?
I know if I crop kays picture in that tweet to just the face, I wouldn’t be able to tell if she was a man or a woman.
I also know if I were to do that to any of her actresses pictures, I wouldn’t have that problem.
Update: Cropped the picture. It’s “Lia” Thomas.