Developer Diary: The Emerging Ecumenopolis

Get an early preview the design of Nar Shaddaa, SWG Restoration's new planet addition coming in The Syndicate Swell.
March 12, 2025 by Aconite and Cfarf

In this Developer Diary, we're sharing a few more details about the story and world design of the Refuge of the Rogues: Nar Shaddaa. We know many players are excited for the expansion of outlaw-related content, and have opened multiple related feature requests, so we wanted to provide some more details on our planning to frame the scope of this work and why we might not implement other ideas because they intersect with our work for Nar Shaddaa. We'll start with sharing more about the story:

The Story

A new advertisement has arrived in the mail from the Nar Shaddaa Convention and Visitors Bureau with an enticing job offer: Get a free vacation to the newly developed Nar Shaddaa Tourism District, a luxury destination, for the small price of helping with upkeep. While the Smuggler’s Moon is an infamous place where the only laws are the business end of a blaster, Grakkus the Hutt, in recognizing the potential for new streams of revenue from unsuspecting travelers, has invested in the creation of the new Tourism District, which can’t wait to host you!

Inside The "Destinations" Concept

The Syndicate Swell will be the publish introducing Nar Shaddaa’s Tourism District, our first destination. A destination is a new kind of planetary experience, distinct from existing worlds. Unlike standard planets like Tatooine, bustling with both NPC and Player cities and open-world exploration, or adventure planets like Yavin IV, vast and untamed with formidable challenges, a destination offers something different—smaller, highly tailored, and built for a specific purpose.

Nar Shaddaa’s destination focuses on the “Tourism District,” a special location grounded in the idea of an attempt at leveraging tourism for economic revitalization and improving the image of a planet veiled for centuries with the reputation of being a world for criminals and gangs. While that hasn’t necessarily changed, it isn’t stopping some groups from attempting to redress the self-inflicted isolation of the world in pursuit of economic opportunity.

Key Characters

While we won't share the when, where, or why just yet, here's some of who you'll meet in your journey:

• Grakkus the Hutt, a surprisingly muscular Hutt who sits upon 12 cybernetic legs. Outside of his large collection of Jedi relics, he is newly involved in the tourism industry
• Vima-Da-Boda, a Jedi Knight of the Sunrider family who survived the Great Jedi Purge
• Olag Greck, a businessman and a lesser crime lord looking for a big score

Planet-Specific Features

While we aren’t ready to share everything, here’s three big parts of Nar Shaddaa you’ll see:

	The Casino - Featuring new games of chance as well as refreshed versions of the gambling already available in-game, including: Themed Slot Machines (Lugjack), Chess (Dejarik), Checkers (Holochex), Blackjack (Pazaak), and Roulette (Jubilee Wheel). Compete to win special prizes and join an exclusive club for high net worth players to bet without limits.
	The Zoo - Your source for finding the most exotic creatures in the galaxy on display for everyone to see, and if you’re lucky, perhaps snag some DNA from. The Zoo’s science center and its research hub offers new discoveries in tricks, abilities, customization, and more for creature handlers and bioengineers. And don’t forget to stop by the gift shop for exclusive cosmetics.
	The Shoppes - Taking luxury to a new level, browse The Shoppes at Nar Shaddaa, where you’ll find exotic materials and items, as well as troves of clothing and style customizations that can be unlocked for Tailors to craft items from some of the galaxy’s most exclusive designers so you can ensure you always look snatched and your drip is always serving a slay, no cap.

A First Look

Here's a few photos of various pieces of the design process:

Space Planning

Early Visual and Shader Experimentation

Concept Art

When to Expect More

We want to be transparent that we don't expect The Syndicate Swell (and Nar Shaddaa) to release until 2026. This is a big project, and there's a lot of net-new features coming as part of the larger publish. But there's plenty of exciting updates coming before then, and more previews and opportunities to provide feedback and to share your ideas coming soon.

May The Force Be With You,
The SWG Restoration Development Team