Why Star Wars Battlefront 2's developers were relieved when they saw Rogue One

Star Wars Battlefront 2 will play an important role in the ever-expanding story of Lucasfilm's inescapable franchise by helping fill the 30-year gap between the triumphant end of Return of the Jedi and the series' return with The Force Awakens.

Various books and comics have done the same, but EA's new game sets itself apart by putting those experiencing the story in the prole-stomping boots of an elite Imperial soldier as the second Death Star explodes and the Empire they serve starts to crumble.

That soldier is Inferno Squad leader Iden Versio, and Battlefront 2 follows her as she starts to question the authority she's been loyal to her entire life.

In casting the hero as a soldier of an oppressive and evil empire, Battlefront 2 will naturally toy with moral ambiguity in a way the films have not.

This December's The Last Jedi appears to be relishing in such ambiguity, casting an air of mystery over Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker and his complicated stance on good and evil after his many turbulent years as a Jedi.

When IBTimes UK sat down with Battlefront 2's co-writer Mitch Dyer and art director Chris Matthews, we asked about how the upcoming game will handle the complex morality of its story.

"Inferno Squad and Iden's father and the Empire as a whole, they all want to achieve order in the galaxy," said Dyer. "How they go about that is going to be different. Their opinions on the moment to moment methods are going to be different.

"You see it in the demo constantly. Iden and Hask don't agree. Del is kind of poking in with a little bit of his opinion. Iden and Hask have that conversation on Endor about whether or not what Iden is saying is treason because the Emperor made a mistake. I think that those kind of moments speak to the personal nature of these characters, who are friends, professionals, allies.

"They're all on the same side. They all want the same thing, but they all disagree about the methodology. I think that you'd going to see a little bit more of that explored in the story in terms of testing those relationships."

Matthews added: "Remember, Luke Skywalker was about to go and join the Imperial Forces. He probably would have ended up a TIE pilot if the droids hadn't arrived on Tatooine [in A New Hope].

"The very first thing that you go through when you get to Jabba's palace [in Return of the Jedi] is force choke two guards, which is of course a dark side technique. So that ambiguity does exist all the way through Star Wars, but it's always a story of dark and light and relationships."

Last year's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which told the story of the Rebellion stealing the original Death Star's plans, also played an important part in the development.

As Dyer reveals: "When Rogue One hit theatres, we hadn't seen it. We saw trailers like everyone else did, but we were making a military story, just like they were, and we were doing what we thought felt authentic and true to Star Wars and what would be interesting for Iden. We walk out of Rogue One and we just all sighed a breath of relief, like, "Okay, we're on the right track". Because you get to see things in Rogue One that are interesting."

"We get to see typically light-sided characters, you know, Cassian, struggling with the fact that he's a murderer and a rogue, but he's doing it for the rebellion, for good reasons" added Matthews. "That's an interesting story to tell."

Dyer continued: "I think it is emotionally complex. You get to see the Rebellion arguing about whether or not they should all go to war. They all want the same thing - the Rebel Alliance to become the New Republic and the Empire to go away - but how they get there, every single one of those people at that table arguing with Jyn [Erso] about whether or not the Death Star exists. They all want to go about it a different way."

"History tends to be written by the victors and that moment in time, in Rogue One, it seems like the Imperials are the victors in the galaxy, but their idea of how to create peace is so entirely different than the rebels," Matthews continues.

"So for us, being able to tell that story, that Iden and everybody around her signed up to do good in the galaxy, it's just really interesting to be able to see the other side of that, you know."

Star Wars Battlefront 2 is set for release on PS4, Xbox One and PC on 17 November.