A scene from the video game Star Wars Disney Infinity.
A scene from the video game Star Wars Disney Infinity.
The year's first major Star Wars release isn't in theatres - it's on consoles. Chris Schulz meets one of the men behind Disney Infinity, the franchise that's embracing Luke and Leia for the first time.
For the past two years, Matt Solie has been hiding a secret.
"I've had to keep this secret from the entire world - except my wife," he says.
As a Disney Infinity producer, Solie has been busy creating the franchise's first game based on Star Wars. Yes, he's been workingon the dark side.
It's the first big game release before Christmas, and one that's likely to suck up plenty of money from parents. A direct competitor to Skylanders, Disney Infinity allows gamers to mix-and-match movie characters across different worlds by placing toys - purchased individually - on a game "portal". It launched in 2013 with a selection of playable Pixar and Disney-based toys from the likes of Monsters Inc and The Incredibles, with last year's second release focusing on Marvel superheroes.
Version 3.0 turns its attention to Star Wars and Inside Out and is out on September 3, with further Star Wars releases planned before Episode VII - The Force Awakens in December.
Solie says they were working on Star Wars way back when Marvel's toys were being designed, and that's meant plenty of closed-door conversations.
"Even then, people were like, 'What about Star Wars?' We would reply: 'The possibilities are endless,"' he laughs.
"I'm just happy that we've been so successful I've had a secret to keep. It's incredibly humbling to see everyone be so excited even though we've given them exactly zero information for two years."
Solie says the timeframe is necessary because each character requires six months' worth of work. In the third release, there are 15 Star Wars characters, including Boba Fett, Ahsoka Tano, Han Solo and Chewbacca, as well as five from Inside Out and several from Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tron: Legacy and Frozen.
On top of that, this release comes with some of Infinity's longest games yet. The Star Wars story mode for Twilight of the Republic can take six hours to finish - up to 10 if you're a "completist".
And the dedication to the Star Wars franchise is impressive. Voices for the Twilight of the Republic story are provided by the original Clone Wars voice actors, and in Rise Against the Empire, two separate Death Star battles are faithfully recreated. You'll even get to hang out with Ewoks on Endor.
One of the best scenes from the original trilogy, the Battle of Hoth, has become one of the game's best, too. This one comes with a major difference: You don't have to be a good guy. You can play as any of the 16 Star Wars characters - including Darth Vader and Darth Maul - to bring down the AT-ATs.
Disney managed to flummox LucasFilm with a question about that scene. LucasFilm, it turns out, had no idea if their AT-AT walkers could turn.
"They only knew they could walk forward. We were like, 'How do they turn?' They said, 'We don't know'. They think of everything. How do they not know? We had to work with Lucas on it. We gave them two points of articulation."
Solie admits there are strict rules around what you can and can't do with LucasFilm's creations.
"We really make sure we're really respectful of the brands we have. You don't want to have Captain America do something he'd never normally do. It's fun to mess in their universes and see what we can do. We go through all their stuff with their approval."
Solie is a card-carrying Star Wars fan: in his phone is a photo of him, aged 3, engaging his aunt in a light saber battle using cardboard tubes.
Matt Solie, Disney Infinity Star wars producer.
And he's dying to know what happens in The Force Awakens, but he's so worried about spilling secrets he banned himself from any connection with the team working on that game.
"Some of the guys know. I don't. They're in a locked room in Glendale, California. They're working in a clean room, they can't bring cellphones, backpacks, anything that has an internet connection. They've seen concept art, they've read the script - I know that for a fact.
"It kills me because I want to know what happens in the film. I have seen nothing."
Well, if he knows anything, he isn't telling. And if you think there are two specific characters - droids R2D2 and C3PO - missing from Disney Infinity, you'd be right. But Solie has some words of warning for you: "You gotta remember, we haven't announced all the characters yet."
What: Disney Infinity 3.0 Platforms: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, PC Playable toys available: Star Wars, Inside Out, Avengers, Tron, Frozen Release date: September 3
