For the uninitiated, you play as Jango Fett in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. The most-fearless bounty hunter in the galaxy is hired to capture a deranged Dark Jedi. Jango takes on the bounty armed with an array of deadly weapons and tools, including dual blasters, a flamethrower, toxic darts, jetpack missiles, and more. Suit up and hunt your quarry, dispatching galactic scum along the way.

Play Video

Visual improvements

Improved environment textures: To give more depth and texture to the environment, we’ve added bump maps. The result is a richer environment that feels a bit more modern.

New lighting effects: With dynamic lighting, we now see more color and impact throughout the environment. Every bolt from Jango’s blasters will illuminate throughout the entire velocity.

New flashlight equipment: If you ever thought some areas felt dark, we did too. We added a flashlight to navigate these darker areas.

PlayStation 5 features

Unique to players on PS5, we’ve taken full advantage of the DualSense wireless controller technology to enhance your bounty hunter experience. Let’s take a look.

Integrated adaptive triggers: Each weapon in Jango’s arsenal now has a unique rhythmic feel.

Voice comms: We’ve routed Jango’s in-game radio communication to play through the DualSense wireless controller’s speaker for an all-new immersive experience.

Lightbar meets health bar: Use the lightbar display on your controller as a visual indicator of Jango’s current health status.

View and download image

Download the image

Close

Download this image

Restoring Boba Fett

The most devoted fans of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter may have heard about an easter egg left in the game. A very low-resolution texture with a message written in Aurebesh— “Cash in all bounties to play as Boba.”

While the message did exist, the feature did not. So even if you hit 100% on your save file, you were only able to play as Jango Fett.

We’ve brought this easter egg to life, so after completing the campaign, you will be able to equip a new Boba Fett skin for your next playthrough.

We hope you enjoy revisiting Jango’s origin story! We’ll see you August 1 on PS5 and PS4.

On March 14, PlayStation players can get back online and fight in iconic battles from across the Star Wars galaxy.

Play Video

Classic Games, Bonus Content, And much more

What’s included? Let’s take a look:

Star Wars Battlefront (Classic)

• Includes Bonus Map: Jabba’s Palace

Star Wars Battlefront II

• Includes Bonus Maps: Bespin: Cloud City, Rhen Var: Harbor, Rhen Var: Citadel, and Yavin 4: Arena 
• Includes Bonus Heroes: Asajj Ventress & Kit Fisto

Bonus content!? That’s right. Classic bonus content has been restored, included, and is premiering for the first time on PlayStation.

We welcome Jedi General from the Clone Wars and member of the Jedi High Council, Kit Fisto as a playable hero. Kit’s special abilities are Saber Throw and Force Orb, making him a fierce contender in Hero Assault for hybrid ranged/melee players.

Villains fans, don’t feel left out. We’ve also brought the Linksaber wielding Sith assassin, Asajj Ventress. Asajj’s special abilities are Star Blades and Force push, making her a great choice for close-ranged encounters and quick escapes.

With all original maps and the new bonus maps, we are packed with fan-favorite planets from across the Star Wars universe.

Battlefront Classic: 17 total maps
Battlefront II: 22 ground maps, 6 space maps, and 9 more space maps exclusive to the single-player campaign and galactic conquest

(Up to) 64 Player Online Multiplayer is Back

We’re excited to announce that cross-gen multiplayer is supported, so whether you’re playing on PlayStation 4 or PlaySation 5, get ready to jump in.

Conquest: Capture control points and deplete the enemy resources

Capture the Flag (CTF): Play with 1 or 2 flags, on the ground or in space

Hunt: Clear the battlefield as soldiers or defend your planet as native species (yes, you can play as an Ewok)

Assault (Space): Pilot legendary starships: TIE fighters, X-wings, and more in space and air dogfights

Hero Assault: Originally only available on Tatooine, hero assault pits heroes against villains in an arena battle for the highest score. We’ve expanded Hero Assault to be playable on all ground maps, which means you can face off on the Death Star, Kamino, Naboo, and many more locations.

Looking for an Offline Solo Experience?

XL mode premiers on PlayStation 

Storm the sandy beaches of Kashyyyk, survive the dusty dunes of Geonosis, or relive the iconic Hoth battle, complete with AT-ATs, snipers, mounted guns, snowspeeders, and tow cables.

The return of Galactic Conquest

Craft your own Star Wars story in Galactic Conquest. Devise your strategy, recruit your troops, and execute your tactical vision for conquering the galaxy. Will Luke Skywalker kneel to the might of the Empire? Will Mace Windu defeat Lord Sidius? The galaxy’s fate is in your hands.

And the classic single-player campaigns

Relive iconic battles from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,  Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi in Star Wars Battlefront I’s campaign mode, where you’ll be at the center of the galaxy-shaping events. 

PLUS

Join the elite 501st Legion of Stormtroopers and experience the rise of Darth Vader in Star Wars Battlefront II’s campaign mode. 

A few final details

Offline 2-Player splitscreen is included. Cozy up on the couch because 2-player splitscreen is included. And it feels like an offline blast from the past.

Trophies are included! A personal favorite is Execute Order 66: Defeat a Jedi hero by knocking them off the map in Battlefront II

Thank You for 20 Years! We hope you enjoy reliving iconic battles from across the Star Wars galaxy. We’ll see you online March 14.

​​

How did we get here? That story takes us to Austin, TX in 1998.

Aspyr & Lara go way back

A burgeoning video game company, Aspyr, launches Tomb Raider II on Macintosh computers. Aspyr continued with the Tomb Raider franchise until 2003, launching Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider III, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider: Chronicles, and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness.

We’ve always wanted to revisit these titles, but we always debated the right approach. For years, we worked through the right balance of preservation and modernization. And once we felt we nailed it, we got in touch with our friends at Crystal Dynamics.

Crystal Dynamics vision

As Crystal Dynamics continues to expand the Tomb Raider Franchise, the timing seemed perfect to reintroduce audiences to the games that started it all. We wanted to both honor the foundations of the franchise and make accessible to modern audiences the original games in all their glory. 

What would the balance of preservation and modernization look like? We call it Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft.

Remaster defined

Within pre-production, we divided the conversation into three buckets: engineering, gameplay, and art. With these categories in mind, we led our conversations in the same order.

Engineering goal – performance with pixel-perfect preservation

At the outset, we knew we would use the original source code and engine. Magic can’t simply be rebuilt. A critical feature for any updates we made was to allow the users to toggle back to the original look and feel for Tomb Raider I, II, and III.

It’s a love letter to all of our memories of these games, but it’s also truly fascinating to see how far hardware pushed in the ‘90s to make Tomb Raider work. Preserving that experience will continue to inspire engineers of today and tomorrow to push games to be more immersive and memorable.

Gameplay goal – surprise and delight lifelong hardcore fans

We had a firm belief that the gameplay of Tomb Raider I, II, and III is timeless, and with our use of the existing source code, we had every jump, secret, enemy, and puzzle exactly as the original development team designed and intended.

So the conversation evolved into: how do we surprise and delight these fans? And that’s where we started brainstorming additions instead of revisions.

Classic and modern control options

For our modern controller settings, we take inspiration from the Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld era of Tomb Raider. These changes are felt mostly in the way Lara moves – the right stick has full camera control and Lara moves directionally based on camera position. 

Just like our approach to the graphical presentation, the original tank-style controls are still available to players via a menu toggle.

Boss health bars

One of Tomb Raider’s strengths was the minimal UI. However, this can be frustrating for tougher bosses with massive amounts of health. We added a health bar to let you know if you should swap to the grenade launcher or if you should keep soaking pistol damage.

3D item sprites replacements

While the menus in Tomb Raider used 3D models for the health kit and ammo, the in-game assets were flat 2D sprites. This was a legacy compromise that we’ve adjusted to give a little more umph to item pick-ups.

Over 200 trophies

This is a big moment for the Tomb Raider community, so we made sure to pack in as much content as possible. We’re excited to say there are over 200 trophies to earn including (my personal favorite) locking the Butler in the freezer. Sorry, Winston! See below for a sneak peak of a few you can look forward to discovering!

Photo mode

Exploring environments in Tomb Raider is magical. We want you to be able to share these environments and iconic moments, so we’ve added a robust photo mode to pose Lara, freeze gameplay, toggle between classic and modern graphics, and showcase these environments. We’re super excited to see what the community puts together with these modes.

And a few more surprises

So much of what we love about Tomb Raider is discovery, and we don’t want to spoil that. 

Art goal – visuals as in your memory

Once we finalized the engineering and gameplay intent, it was time to move on to our biggest challenge and changes for the project—the art. 

Our philosophy here was rather straightforward; we want the games to look the way they did in your mind. We knew we were on the right track in our early playtests because some play testers didn’t even know they were playing with the modern art toggled on.

We’ve worked hand-in-hand with Crystal Dynamics on the following modern art updates:

• Baked and real-time lighting effects – These changes add to the immersion and mood of the environment. 

• Graphics toggle – At any point during gameplay, including in Photo mode, you can swap between the original and modern graphics.

• New models, environments, and enemies – As shown in our initial reveal, we’ve added new models for a consistent modern look and feel. We’re excited to showcase how these PS1 environments would look with modern technologies and tools.

• New model for Lara Croft – Her original outfits are stunning. Her silhouette—iconic. Need I say more?

• Additional updates – We love the classic look of the animations, textures, and VFX. We’ve made adjustments in the modern scheme to look consistent with the updated models for a polished final look.

We send our admiration and thanks to the Tomb Raider community for inspiring us to work on this lovingly restored edition of Tomb Raider I-III. We’ll see you on February 14.

Pre-orders are available now on PlayStation Store.

Podrace Like a Pro

If you’re a fan of arcade or kart racing, you’ll feel right at home accelerating through turns, drifting, and maximizing boosts to beat the other racers to the finish line. If you haven’t played Episode I Racer before, here are our best tips to get you started.

Boost Responsibly:

While boosting can blast you to the front of the pack, it can also overheat your engines. Flaming engines will leave you getting lapped. Make sure to throttle the boost before you end up left in the dust.

Don’t Go Full Throttle:

Trying to max your MPH might seem great on straight-line tracks, but you’ll eventually smack into a rock wall. Toggling the accelerator is key to mastering the caverns, twists, and turns of the tracks. Let off the acceleration going into the turn, then accelerate at the half-way point to blast away from the pack.

Meet Your Match:

Racers have different strengths and weaknesses. Make sure your playstyle matches your racer. If you prefer high acceleration, choose Anakin Skywalker. If you prefer tight handling, choose Toy Dampner

Stay On Track:

For a majority of the race, you’ll want to follow the beaten path. You’ll see severe slowdowns as you stray from the established racing track. Risk can bring reward though with secret shortcuts on several tracks.

Improve Your Times with Shortcuts

If you pay close attention, you may discover secret paths hidden just off the track that allow you to take a big lead. Here’s a few of our favorites:

Ando Prime (Multiple tracks):

After completing your first lap, veer left and look for an open tent. That’s your path to victory!

Sunken City:

Immediately before entering the tunnel after the colosseum, hug the left wall. You’ll ride up onto a small raised pathway.

Gauntlet:

Hit your boost hard before the long open straight away. Veer right, and you’ll save a lot of time.

Take Home the Toughest Trophies

Your quest for a platinum trophy won’t be easy, but we’re here to help you race through earning these gold trophies.

You came, you looked around, you bought:

Check the junkyard often. Swap your racer to refresh the inventory of the junkyard. If you find a Best part in poor condition, add it to your podracer and then repair it after your next race.

The fastest racer in the galaxy:

For tight turns, you’ll want to press L2 to drift through the turn. Mastering your drift skills is key to being able to maintain your speed throughout the twistys.

Taking the high road:

Take Abyss slowly and learn the layout of the track. If you fall off, kiss the race goodbye.

Catch Us if You Can

We’ve put up a few of our best lap records. If you think you can beat us, send screenshots to @aspyrmedia!

Aspyr Team Best Lap Record Times

Abyss — 1:06.717 — AspyrEthan

Mon Gazza Speedway — 14.313 — AspyrCam

Vengeance  — 1:12:135 — AspyrEthan

Grabvine Gateway — 1:37.285 — AspyrCam

Woo! Thanks for sticking with me for the long read. Good luck on setting your new lap records.

Star Wars Episode I: Racer is available now on PS4.

Update: The release date for Star Wars Episode I: Racer has shifted to May 26.

On May 12, PlayStation fans will soon get to experience the original Star Wars Episode I: Racer when it launches for PlayStation 4.

Episode I: Racer was an intergalactic kart racer that included a variety of racers spanning the Star Wars galaxy and a satisfying upgrade system that let you develop and customize the stats for your racing style. You were able to choose your destiny; racing over lava pits and through ice caverns, it was entirely possible you might just crash in a fiery wreck.

Of course, we wanted to capture the feeling of the original, but just delivering a one-for-one port of this classic wasn’t enough for Aspyr. Our teams wanted to bring the definitive experience to life, combining the best elements of all versions of the game into an experience that was worth the 20-year wait.

Here’s just a sampling of what you can expect from Star Wars Episode I: Racer on PS4:

• We uprezzed all of the FMV sequences in the game. Output resolutions have massively changed in the past 20 years, as have file size restrictions. This allowed us to natively re-export everything into greatly increased resolutions that will look better than ever on your 4K TV. Despite the age of the original models, these cutscenes look stunning and will take you back to seeing the track on Tatooine for the first time in 1999.
  
• We re-mapped all of the controls to feel right for DualShock 4. This might sound trivial, but to really feel like you’re piloting a Podracer takes a very special touch. The controls that captured the thrill of Podracing in 1999 simply don’t feel as natural on the modern controller, but our team was dedicated to creating the ultimate Podracing experience. You can expect controls that feel natural and modern.
  
• Trophy hunters will be happy to hear that we’ve added Trophies. You’ll even be able to prove you’re the ultimate Podracing champion with a Platinum trophy!

If you’re new to Star Wars Episode I: Racer, the only word you need to know is speed. This game is all about the speed and fans of Star Wars: Racer Revenge will be pleased to see that the original delivered on the promise of exceeding 600 MPH. Racing purists will drift through turns, discover shortcuts, and break lap records, while kart-racing fans will defer to bumping, smashing, or even using Sebulba’s secret flame jets to knock opponents out of the race.

Please accept a massive Thank YOU from the teams here at Aspyr for all your support! It’s an honor to be able to bring our favorite games back, and we’re looking forward to watching y’all hop in :)

If you’re looking for more classic Star Wars games from Aspyr, check out Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.

Torn is a dark science-fiction mystery created by Aspyr Media. During pre-production, Aspyr brought in industry veteran Susan O’Connor (BioShock, Tomb Raider) as the Lead Writer to develop the dark journey through the mansion. And with O’Connor’s experience in fascinating and strange narratives, the early Torn script felt like an episodic screening from Black Mirror.

“The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror were huge influences for this story,” O’Connor says. “Both shows are such a strange mix of horror and sci-fi and drama. And both shows do such a great job of finding the monsters hiding in the shadows of everyday life, like watching our nightmares playing out in the real world.”

The atmosphere of Torn doesn’t end at the narrative, though. The whimsical world of Torn is brought to life with a full orchestra, led by Garry Schyman. You may recognize him from his previous work on the BioShock and Middle-earth franchises.

“Torn was fascinating to score and is one of the most interesting games I have worked on since BioShock,” Schyman recalls. “Both share a dark mystery at its core that shocks when discovered by the player and both were spectacular opportunities for a composer moved by passionate work.”

Our goal was to create a virtual reality tourist destination for science fiction fans, where players could immerse themselves in a strange world with even stranger machines. The Torn mansion may be abandoned, but the doors aren’t exactly closed.

As part of Totally Digital, you can pre-order Torn now to save 15% at PlayStation Store. PS Plus members save an additional 5%. See you in the mansion August 28!