Don’t wanna risk any of that “a pretty penny, although not as much as an actual Disney vacation.
ILMxLab and Oculus Studios have announced their latest collaboration hot off the heels of Vader Immortal, the three-part VR gaming series that saw players virtually visit the planet Mustafar, learning the ways of the Force and how to wield a lightsaber from none other than the Dark Lord of the Sith himself. Your next VR adventure will be a little less…fearsome at least, as instead of running around Darth Vader’s castle, you’re going to Disneyland!
Well, Batuu. But you know what we mean.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/05/disney-world-plans-for-a-july-reopening-despite-the-still-ongoing-pandemic/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/28/bej9rpma6luotjdddrq3-300×169.jpg” title=”Disney World Plans for a July Reopening, Despite the Still-Ongoing Pandemic” excerpt=”What could possibly go wrong?”]
Although specifics as to what you’ll actually be doing (and why) in Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge are being kept under wraps, the new VR game will be set within the same timeframe between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker as the park, promising an original story that “will feature both new and iconic characters from the Star Wars universe with multiple styles of gameplay,” and, interestingly, let players make “consequential choices” that push the narrative forward. Here’s a very detail-rich poster that tells you a lot more:
Oh. Never mind! Very Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina vibes there in the logo though, that’s nice.
Maybe you won’t be flying the Millennium Falcon, scuttling Star Destroyers á la Rise of the Resistance, or consuming copious amounts of themed alcohol at Oga’s Cantina ” like you would at Galaxy’s Edge itself ” but you’ll no doubt be doing something evocative of that, so you can replicate a similar feeling. After all, Disney would like you, at some point ” social distancing and hygiene measures obliged ” to show up to the actual Galaxy’s Edge.
It’s a good way to make the world and storytelling Disney and Lucasfilm have built up around the themed land accessible to a wider variety of people who cannot necessarily get to either Disneyland or Disney World and see it for themselves. Even if VR is its own barrier of entry, an Oculus Quest is less of a buy-in compared to a stay at a Disney park, tickets, and food. But still a pretty sizable one!
That said, Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge, which is due later in 2020, is probably the closest and safest way you’ll be able to get a taste of Galaxy’s Edge this year. There’s no word yet on what VR platforms the game will launch on yet, but considering it’s being made in collaboration with Oculus Studios, you probably can expect it to launch on its headsets first, the Quest and Rift, before it comes to other platforms.