‘Star Wars Outlaws’ Creative Director Rejects Criticisms Of Protagonist Kay Vess’ Appearance: “It Makes No Sense To Me, And It’s Not Worth Engaging With”
The creative director behind Ubisoft’s upcoming Star Wars Outlaws says he has no interest in engaging with the absolute bevy of criticism the game has received regarding the rather masculine appearance of its female protagonist.
As previously reported, Vess’ physical design has been the subject of criticism ever since April 2024 when her in-game model made its debut in Outlaws‘ official Story Trailer.
Featuring a rather pronounced chin, a strong jaw line, and a hairstyle typical of 70s rock & roll roadie – and not to mention looking almost nothing like her motion capture and voice actress Humberly González – many fans walked away from their first proper meeting with the rough-and-tumble smuggler absolutely exhausted at how her design was yet another example of the Western video game industry’s ongoing, identity-politics-inspired aversion to attractive female characters.
However, rather than attempt to earnestly investigate said fans’ exhaustion, the aforementioned Gerighty is choosing to simply ignore them all together.
Pressed during an interview with The Washington Post‘s Gene Park as to whether he had any thoughts on the above criticisms regarding the masculinity seen in Vess’ design – which, as an aside, Park compared to the backlash towards Assassin’s Creed: Shadows‘ featuring of the historical Yasuke as its protagonist – the creative director asserted, “Kay is meant to be approachable, a petty thief who ends up barreling through this story, making bad decisions and centered with a lot of humor, humility and toughness. That’s what’s important to me.”
“And she’s beautiful, come on,” he added. “It makes no sense to me, and it’s not worth engaging with. If you engage with bad-faith people, there’s no nuance and no possibility of real dialogue. So all we can do is make the best game possible.”
Notably, the discourse surrounding Vess’ design is but one of the many, many controversies that have popped up around Star Wars Outlaws since its initial announcement.
From the supposed use of a bot army to generate discussion about the game on social media, to its physical release requiring an internet connection to fully install onto a player’s console or PC, to the absolutely egregious pricing structure of its various editions, suffice to say, Star Wars Outlaws is shaping up to be yet another Ubisoft release.
And now that previews have been released and the general public have been able to see the absolutely abysmal state of its gameplay (I’m sorry, IGN, a small smuggler bare-handed knocking out an armored Stormtrooper in one hit is not ‘immersive‘, no matter how you spin it)?
Let’s just say Outlaws is going to need all the luck in the galaxy to avoid becoming another Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League-level sales disaster.
Barring any delays, Star Wars Outlaws is currently set to hit the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC platforms on August 30th.
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