LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will include 500 characters, creators reveal

In a new interview, the producers of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga have confirmed it will be epic in scope, featuring almost 500 playable characters.

Following the reveal of key art for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga earlier today, Jonathan Smith, head of production and strategic director at TT Games, and Craig Derrick, managing producer at Lucasfilm Games, have discussed the new title with StarWars.com.

One of the things that the LEGO video games have been known for since the first Star Wars title in 2005 are the huge character rosters. That hasn’t changed in this upcoming release. “We’re all fans; there’s no shortage of characters we’d love to play with,” Smith says in the interview. “And you can’t ask us to pick a single favorite! It’s the fact that the whole cast is brought together, uniquely in this LEGO form — the complete collection, from Admiral Ackbar to Zorii Bliss — which makes the game so special.”

“There are nearly 500 characters in this game, with many of them playable,” Derrick confirms. “When choosing characters for a game this large, we just looked at every film in the saga and tried to say ‘yes’ as much as possible. That said, it often comes down to storytelling and the specific role of the character in the quests and game progression. Of course, we have almost all of your favorite heroes and villains from the films, many background players, a few surprises, and… Yaddle!”

Five things fans need in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

While fans will be delighted at the size of the cast, it is perhaps not surprising considering this game brings nine films together. “As fans, we were always going to go big! With the conclusion of the Skywalker saga in Episode IX, and 15 years since the first LEGO Star Wars, it really felt like the right time to aim as high as possible; to create a LEGO landmark,” says Smith.

Derrick adds that bringing all nine films together was a huge opportunity. “We needed the game to feel epic in scope and scale while bringing the player intimately closer to the action like never before. This required new technology, new game mechanics, and a passionate team of developers to create a cast of hundreds and all the familiar worlds they populate — all with the charm and humour you expect with a LEGO Star Wars game. Quite frankly, this game is massive because it had to be.”

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is available for pre-order now and will be released at some point in 2020. The last LEGO Star Wars video game was The Force Awakens, released in 2016.

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