Exclusive Interview: Vader Immortal’s Ben Snow Talks Star Wars VR Development, May the 4th Game Sales

Most of us probably remember exactly where we were the first time Star Wars left a major impact on our lives. It has a unique ability to feel both like a global phenomenon that everyone loves, while simultaneously evoking an intimate and personal connection for each of its millions of fans. Simply put, Star Wars is magical.

May 21 of this year will mark the five-year anniversary of ILM Immersive’s Vader Immortal: A Star War VR Series - Episode I, the first of a three-part epic cinematic storytelling experience on the Quest Platform. To ring in the half-decade since its original debut, we took some time to chat with Ben Snow, a seasoned visual effects supervisor, director, and storyteller who has been with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) for nearly 30 years. Over his illustrious career, Snow worked on numerous beloved titles, including Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Iron Man, and, of course, Vader Immortal. In addition to taking the time to talk with us, Snow also was able to open up the vaults and share two never-before-seen pieces of concept art by artists Stephen Todd and Brett Northcut.

Be sure to scroll past the break for details on this year’s May the 4th sales to celebrate all of the amazing Star Wars experiences available on Meta Quest.

Ben Snow: I am a visual effects supervisor and director who has been with Lucasfilm’s ILM for nearly 30 years, and supervised visual effects on Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Iron Man 1 & 2, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Noah, and many others. I am also a long-time video gamer. I became involved in VR at Lucasfilm when I was asked to pitch ideas for a 360 video tie-in for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, intended as a title for a new Facebook 360 video project, and we ended up creating the piece in 2015. A couple of years later, I was asked to join the ILM Immersive team (then called ILMxLAB) to supervise a test creating a short narrative experience in VR, which ultimately led to Vader Immortal. Working on this project was a dream come true.

BS: Getting to tell an original Star Wars story in VR was a blast. In addition to a life-long interest in video games and immersive entertainment, what excited me about the projects I did with ILM Immersive was the ability to create a narrative experience that the participant could actually feel part of. Also, it was decided early on that the project would be part of the Star Wars canon, so we got to work with the Lucasfilm Franchise Content and Story team closely throughout. Who hasn’t imagined stepping into Star Wars and being part of that universe? Vader Immortal allowed me to help create that experience for people all over the world.

BS: The project was inspired by an experimental narrative VR test ILM Immersive created, originally intended as a VR tie-in to the Star Wars film Rogue One named RICE, short for “Rogue One Interactive Cinema Experience.” RICE was a test conceived as a mostly passive narrative story by Lucasfilm and ILM Immersive. David S. Goyer, a director and the noted screenwriter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman series as well as many other films and several video games, was the writer on the project. Eventually, I was asked to join the RICE team as VFX supervisor to help steer it through.

We were able to apply our learnings from RICE on other projects, which led me to write a proposal outlining how we could change the player to being an active participant in the story instead of a passive viewer, and slanting the visuals to a more recognisable Star Wars look. Mohen Leo had joined ILM Immersive as a Narrative Designer and he was pushing for a similar type of project and we, along with Design Director Colin MacKie, started reworking the original RICE story idea as a more interactive adventure. Goyer himself was very enthusiastic about the new concept, and the ILM Immersive executive team including Mark S. Miller brought the idea to Meta, who decided to back the ambitious project as a launch title for their upcoming VR device: the first Oculus Quest.

BS: It was an honor to be involved in crafting an original Darth Vader story. The foundation of the story was David S. Goyer and the Lucasfilm Franchise Content and Story team’s original concept, with initial narrative experience designed by Mohen Leo and Colin MacKie. I participated in story meetings with them to refine the plot and action, and Goyer worked the script based on that. My story contributions were initially the more visual and experiential ideas, like the idea of a journey down to the ancient castle under Vader’s fortress, as well as practical ideas to help player understanding and character interactions. As the project progressed, I contributed more to the story and dialogue itself.

I had been looking forward to the film Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith to see Anakin Skywalker in one of his darkest places on Mustafar, and to see how Anakin became Darth Vader. I wanted to feature this more and really spend some quality time with Vader on Mustafar, before he became the Sith Lord we meet in Star Wars: A New Hope. We wanted to lean into the power and mystery Vader had, and give the player the chance to meet him in all his formidable glory.

BS: When we developed Vader Immortal as a narrative experience, our first goal was to make a story that was best told in VR. We asked ourselves two questions: “What would we, as fans, like to do if we were able to step into Star Wars?” and, “What makes the Vader Immortal story one that should be best experienced in the VR medium?” We felt it was important to make the player not only key to the story, but to attach a mystery to them that directly tied them to the story itself.

Vader Immortal was an early VR project, and we were very much experimenting as we developed it. We decided to split the action into three episodes, the narrative parts of which ended up being about 30 – 40 minutes on average. In addition, we wanted to allow some side actions that the player could spend longer on if they wished, and we had such fun with the initial lightsaber training in Vader’s dojo that we created a side experience based on that.

VR is crucial to Vader Immortal because only VR allows you to interact with Vader directly in ways that you couldn’t do otherwise, seeing him in his vulnerable moments first-hand. It gives you the chance to experience Star Wars in a different way where you feel like you are part of the story and your character is important in the narrative. And it gives our fans a chance to experience things in a totally new way, like lightsaber combat, making the jump to hyperspace, and battling stormtroopers with blasters.

BS: We really wanted to make a memorable “real life” Darth Vader encounter for players of Vader Immortal. We did a series of tests to make sure the player’s first interaction with Vader was suitably impressive, testing with people of different heights to find his optimal size in relation to the player. Ultimately, we settled on retaining the actual height of his character in the original Star Wars trilogy. We worked with Skywalker Sound to create the best immersive sound design for how he walks, sounds, and, of course, the iconic way he breathes.

We also felt that with Vader a little would go a long way, so it was important to introduce compelling new characters to help guide the player and to provide a basis for the story. I had the privilege of working directly with George Lucas on Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and learned the emphasis he put on creating new worlds, visuals, characters, and experiences for the audience. Given that Vader Immortal was to be part of the greater Star Wars story, we wanted to make sure the other characters were unique and memorable.

BS: When I’m able to choose my lightsaber color in Vader Immortal, I like green because of the lightsaber Luke Skywalker creates when he builds his own. It appeals to the maker in me.

BS: The dojo in Episode III, which is based in Vader’s meditation room on the top of his castle, is my favorite because of all the amazing gameplay and lightsaber options that Lightsaber Dojo Experience Director Jose Perez III and the team came up with. I also like the Episode II dojo set in the manufacturing room of the Corvax castle because of the neat machines you can use as part of your fighting.

BS: During our extensive testing I did play with dual wield, but generally prefer a single lightsaber.

BS: I had a blast throughout the making of Vader Immortal. It was a unique privilege to be able to experiment with narrative VR concepts while creating the RICE test, which inspired the project. And the conception and writing process was a terrific experience, working with Goyer and the Lucasfilm Franchise Content and Story team, feeling encouraged to push boundaries of the medium and experiment throughout, and collaborating with the designers and engineers to work out how we’d actually get this onto the headset. I liked working with the physical and voice actors to come up with the characters and action, and with the art department to come up with our unique corner of the Star Wars galaxy. Honestly, it felt like all my background and experience in visual effects, filmmaking, and real-time came together to make Vader Immortal a perfect project for me to work on. Ultimately, my favorite part was seeing people’s reaction to what we created, in the testing phase, in the demo phase, and then reading the positive comments on the Quest Store that continue to this day.

BS: As visual effects supervisor on Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, I love that era, but it’s a bit too dangerous. I like the era we set Vader Immortal in, the time when the rebellion is forming. I like the building unrest, the sneaking around, and the discovery of like-minded people determined to face the Empire. I’m loving the recent Andor series set in that world. I also find Vader to be at his most interesting during that period—at his toughest but still with some of the vulnerabilities of Anakin—something we got to have fun with in Vader Immortal.

BS: Of course now I love ZO-E3 and Karius from Vader Immortal, as well as the doomed Athex from Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire. Alumni of that production sometimes greet each other with the cry, “Athex lives!” From the greater Star Wars canon, I love the villains Tarkin and Dooku, partially because I’m a lifelong horror fan who loves the actors and also because of what the actors did with the roles.

There’s no better or more immersive place to get sucked into the galaxy far, far away than on Meta Quest. We’ve got a slew of fantastic sales to celebrate May the 4th this year for Meta Quest users with all three Star Wars titles available marked down to a tremendous 66% off, which is the lowest price ever on these titles! The sale ends May 5 at 11:59 pm PT.

• Vader Immortal: Episode I
• Vader Immortal: Episode II
• Vader Immortal: Episode III
• Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge (and the Last Call conclusion)
• Star Wars Pinball VR

Finally, if that’s enough reason to put on a Quest this May the 4th, then the secret sauce on this Ronto Wrap of a promotion is that the groundbreaking VR fitness app Supernatural is bringing back the world of Star Wars with two new workouts as you choose your path: “The Light Side” or “The Dark Side.” Will you seek balance and harmony as you embark on your Jedi journey with Coach Leanne, or step into your inner-Sith and take a walk on the dark side with Coach Mark?

Supernatural’s classic Star Wars workout, “May the 4th Be With You,” will also be available for a limited time. Jump in your headset and flow to your favorite tracks from the saga. All three workouts will be available in-headset starting today until May 5.