Ubisoft details the process of getting StarFox content approved for Starlink: Battle for Atlas

The reveal of StarFox popping up in Starlink: Battle for Atlas was one of the best surprises to come out of E3 2018. Just how does something like this come together? Kotaku talked to Laurent Malville, the creative director of Starlink, to find out.

- in September 2017, Ubisoft was invited to Kyoto to present Starlink to Miyamoto and the original Starfox team
- they put together a presentation on the game itself, and what it would be like with StarFox represented
- this all stemmed from a behind-closed-doors presentation that Ubisoft held at E3 2017
- Nintendo checked out the presentation, and kept bringing in more people from the company to check it out
- the idea for the collaboration came from Nintendo themselves
- Ubisoft worked tirelessly to put together a presentation for Nintendo that showcased StarFox in the game
- they also used a 3D printer to show off what an Arwing toy for the game would be like
- the Arwing is the only ship that has mechanical movement
- this means you can put it in combat mode and navigation mode, which was worked into the 3D-printed model
- Ubisoft presented this Arwing to Miyamoto as a gift, and he began playing with it immediately
- the 3D-printed option let you remove the wings and plug them into other ships
- Miyamoto felt this was a fun idea for players, but wasn't sure it would get approval, as it changed the silhouette of the Arwing
- a couple weeks later, Nintendo reached out to Ubisoft and approved the collaboration, including the removable wings
- Nintendo and Ubisoft worked together on concept art, with Nintendo offering up suggestions and notes