Star Wars: Galaxy Of Heroes Lead Producer On The Game’s 10 Year Anniversary, The New Coliseum Mode, And Favorite Characters

Launching in 2015 in the build-up to the release of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes has proven to be one of the most enduring free-to-play mobile strategy games. Tasking players with assembling teams composed of the best Jedi, Sith, Commandos, and Bounty Hunters the franchise has to offer, Galaxy of Heroes has proven to be an extraordinarily entertaining experience.

Now, with a full decade under their belt, the developers behind the game are introducing new modes and characters to help ring in the celebration. To highlight the “Season of Anniversary” 10 Year update for Galaxy of Heroes, Comicbook.com sat down with Capital Games’ Lead Producer, Caley Roberts, and discussed what makes Galaxy of Heroes so compelling, the process of working with LucasArts to broaden the game with each new Star Wars story, and which character he still can’t believe he got into the game.

Why Star Wars: Galaxy Of Heroes Has Endured For Years (And Will For Years To Come)

At the heart of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is a long-running fan base that has fully embraced the game’s version of a galaxy far, far away. The “Season of Anniversary” brings together new takes on classic characters, specific Era Levels that highlight the latest marquee characters, and the spectacle of the Coliseum Arena. However, none of that would be possible without the team behind the game at Capital Games and EA. “The team is very passionate,” Roberts explained, noting that “We’re all Star Wars nerds. We love building Star Wars content. We’ve had a phenomenal partnership with Lucas. They are a great brand partner for us. They continue to create amazing experiences, brand-new characters that we get to bring into the game.”

That passion for the source material is clear with every new character drop, something that plays into one of the core creative elements of the game, according to Roberts. “The other conceit that is really important for us is that, because we are technically a cantina that plays holo-table games, it allows us to be three minutes after any of the events that happen in Star Wars. That means that, from our conceit, we’re allowed to pull from all of the original trilogy, the prequels, the sequels, and the shows. Any single property that they bring out, we have the ability to use those characters in our game, and it keeps it fresh. It allows us to make really cool teams. It allows us to bring in things like a non-canon character like Revan. I think it’s a passion project for us. We love working on it. We have amazing amounts of content from our brand partners at Lucas. We have some of the craziest designers who build some of the most amazing kits for our teams. They’re always thinking about team synergy. They love to make those teams.”

“It’s really fun to be able to see the excitement from our players as we announce new teams and new characters. I think my favorite is when you release an update, then the fan base is buzzing. ‘What were they before? How are they getting these going to work together?’ That strategizing is also really fun to watch. I think that combination of a great brand partner, a great team, and one of the most committed audiences we’ve ever seen — our fans are the reason why we’ve been able to do this. They continue to play our game. They continue to care so much about the characters that they build, the relationships that they’ve made, and it’s just one of the tightest communities. Between all that, how could we not go another 37 years?“

How Galaxy Of Heroes Is Celebrating The 10 Year Anniversary

One of the inherent challenges of expanding a game like Galaxy of Heroes is finding new avenues to build upon. Many of the franchise’s most iconic characters have already appeared in the game in some form. However, the 10-year anniversary seemed like an ideal chance to bring back new versions of the original characters, as well as push new modes. Roberts specifically cited Luke as an idea, recalling how “Farm Boy Luke is one of the original characters. “That was one of the things we wanted to do, a callback to bring Luke back. We already have Stormtrooper Han, we should do Stormtrooper Luke!” Pulling from all over the franchise history is the key to keeping Galaxy of Heroes fresh and exciting after a decade of gameplay and something that the team fully embraces. Designing the specific layout and combat style of each character is also a vital element of the process.

“We talk about kits. We talk about the different powers and the different abilities that you get. We want to make sure that those are going to synergize. We want to keep all of our teams fresh. I think one of the things that I’m most proud of is that we look at a team that’s maybe not doing as well in the meta or is not sitting in the right place, and we’ll release a lifter for it to help that team become better and reenergize the group. Sometimes you look at your teams like, Ah, I wish this team were better.

“That allows us to put out a lifter, bring that team back up into relevancy, and allow you guys to enjoy some of the older squads that you probably invested in early and haven’t had a chance to play with in a while. We use a lot of different techniques, but really looking at some of the older teams, especially when you have a unique set of five characters, like we do with the anniversary, we really want to make sure that those guys have super utility; they help other teams. We want that past investment to still feel good for our players. You get to dust it off. That’s how we kind of differentiate and still make sure that we’re bringing in characters to the game that people love and really want to see and play.”

This also extends to new challenges, like the Coliseum mode. This new battle setup forces players to face off with massive beasts and aggressive challenges, but with a high reward for victory. Speaking to finding unique enemy units like pirate walkers in shows like The Mandalorian, Roberts noted that “as soon as my lead live designer and producer saw that, we were on the chat talking about how cool that thing looks. One of the things for us, especially 10 years in, is that sometimes we’re going to make paradigm shifts. Sometimes we need to change the way the game is played, and that can be scary for our players. It’s scary for our team too. But I think one of the shifts right now is seasonality. We’ve started with the episode pass, we’re finally coming out with the Coliseum, and getting to celebrate the amazing bosses that are in the game. Getting to redo old ones and bring them back so they can have new content and feel fresh and fun.”

The sheer depth of the game also means longtime players have plenty of options to dive into new challenges, but that can be difficult for newer players who lack the sheer scope of the older players’ available options. That is actually one of the reasons the Colosseum was designed around letting players of all experience levels dive in. “We saw people who have played since day one, who have huge accounts, right? You can call your friend and say, ‘Hey, come play Star Wars with me.’ Then he logs into the game and thinks ‘All right, two years from now, we can maybe play together.’ Seasonality made that shift from ‘it takes two years for me to be relevant,’ to ‘start enjoying the new content and the new characters that are coming out.’ A player who starts on day one and a player who’s been playing for 10 years get to enjoy the exact same content in our Coliseum that all of our other players do as well. It’s important for us that everyone who joins our game gets to experience the latest content, and it gets to experience those Star Wars moments that make this game so great.”

The Biggest Surprises In Ten Years Of Galaxy Of Heroes

Looking back at a decade of Galaxy of Heroes, Roberts reflected on how the game has only survived this long thanks to the fans who have been with them since the beginning and all the ones they picked up along the way. “You don’t always see this in every game,” Roberts admitted. “I think that’s the biggest surprise, to see how passionate our players are.” Roberts also reflected on all the ways the game has been kept fresh by tweaking elements like mods. “We like to make changes. We like to keep the game fresh. There’s no system we won’t go back to and won’t redo. It’s challenging every time you try to build anything new.”

Looking back at ten years of characters and ideas, Roberts admitted that they got his dream addition to the game with the inclusion of Jar Jar Binks and the Gungans. “I’m a Gungan fan! I’m a Jar Jar fan. We spent almost four or five years trying to get Jar Jar in. Then the anniversary of the prequels came up, and that was our spot. I think we did justice to Jar Jar. His kit fits him so well, and just really plays like Jar Jar. The Gungans are awesome! I love all their shields. I thought the event around them was really fun, too. I’m also an old-school Knights of the Old Republic player, so getting Revan was always a good one. But getting Jar Jar, that was the big one. I remember the meeting with the Lucas team, we went through the whole thing, and they looked around and said, ‘Yeah, this is good.’ It’s one of the most fun moments we’ve had.”

Looking back at the past and ahead to the future, Roberts explained that “I couldn’t be prouder to get to say that I get to work on this game. I couldn’t be prouder to say that I’m a leader on this team. I can’t be prouder to say that I serve content to one of the most rabid, amazing gaming communities I’ve ever worked for. I worked with PlayStation for a long time, and still, this community is something that I love and cherish, and I love to see all the different things on Reddit. I love to see these fans talk about different gameplay styles. I see a lot of people come in and say, ‘Hey, help me!’ And you can look down into the comments and see 130 different people saying, ‘Hey, do this. Oh, you can do this.’ They’re so inviting, and they’re so helpful.

“For me, it’s an absolute honor. I would say that anybody else on the team feels the same way. We care deeply about this game. We care deeply about making awesome experiences for fans. I’m honored that when people are having a bad day, or they need a way to escape, they can pick up Galaxy of Heroes and play through content and have a good time. They talk to their friends, they meet up with their guildmates, they get on Discord, and we give them that slice of the Star Wars experience that they’re looking for at that moment in time. I think for me, that’s the thing that really makes me feel great about working in games and getting to work on a Star Wars property like this.”

Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is currently available for free on the App Store, Google Play and on the EA App