Star Wars Outlaws’ Director: ‘Bad Faith’ Discourse About Protagonist’s Appearance ‘Not Worth Engaging In’

Star Wars Outlaws creative director Julian Gerighty isn’t interested in entertaining “bad faith” conversations about the upcoming Ubisoft game’s protagonist, Kay Vess.

As previews for the upcoming open-world title rolled out this week, Gerighty, in an interview with The Washington Post, touched on the discourse that some are pushing on social media that Kay isn’t “attractive enough.” His response? Don’t give that conversation attention.

“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,” Gerighty said. “That’s what’s important to me. And she’s beautiful, come on.”

“It makes no sense to me and it’s not worth engaging with,” he continued. “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.”

Gerighty’s comments come shortly after Ubisoft raised eyebrows with a statement on another one of its upcoming games, Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In the statement, the company apologized to its Japanese community for promotional elements that “have caused concern.” Moderators of the main Assassin’s Creed subreddit complained that the statement “exacerbated” the “tedious discussion” about protagonist Yasuke and his status as a samurai, and warned users against engaging with the debate.

We’ve been learning more and more about Star Wars Outlaws as final previews published this week. In IGN’s preview, Ryan McCaffrey wrote that he had a “fantastic time” with the game, adding, “Open-world games tend to be jacks-of-all-trades, masters-of-none, and while I’m not sure Outlaws will master any of its gameplay components, it nonetheless not only does them all very well, but it does so with a convincing Star Wars sheen.”

Star Wars Outlaws will release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on August 30.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.