At GDC 2025, Ashley Ruhl, Narrative Director of Star Wars: The Old Republic, shared the story behind the development of Date Night, the repeatable, romance-focused missions that became a fan favourite.
Date Night launched for Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2024 and was an immediate hit with players of the long-running MMORPG. What began as an experimental side project evolved into a fully realised feature that proved romance was not dead. It was alive, viable, and highly desirable.
Set 300 years after the Knights of the Old Republic games, Star Wars: The Old Republic is built on classic BioWare storytelling, featuring cinematics, player-driven choices, and companion characters.
While romance has always been a part of the game, it’s tied to the main storyline and this restriction has often left players wanting more. Ruhl noted how frequently fans asked, “When is this companion coming back?” and “Why haven’t I been able to smooch this companion?”
Love in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
“Ruhl believes that romance in games holds untapped potential for player engagement, particularly in MMOs, where it tends to evolve linearly alongside the main story. The concept behind Date Night was to give players the ability to access romance content whenever they wished.”
“Romance moments are contingent on the companion character being present in the main storyline. And romance doesn’t advance unless the main storyline does,” Ruhl says.
In December 2020, Ruhl took part in an internal game jam. Their goal was to create a proof of concept for Date Night within a week.
“I honestly just wanted to make a cute romantic scene with lots of prolonged eye contact that leads to kissing,” Ruhl admits.
However, the idea piqued interest across the studio, and a group of developers from various disciplines got involved, transforming Date Night from an experiment into a feature that was almost production-ready.
Hot Dogs in the Coffee Maker
The initial game jam resulted in three playable date night scenarios, created with existing tools and in-game assets. Ruhl likens The Old Republic’s cinematic suite to a box of Lego.
Using the game’s stage editor, the team could easily set up everything they needed to block a scene including props, music, sound effects and visual effects. Camera settings such as depth of field, lens length and other attributes were simple to adjust, and access to the game’s animation library ensured that characters delivered the appropriate visual performance. Some creative problem-solving was required, however. In one example, a kissing animation is slowed down, mid-smooch, to create a more natural – and blush-inducing – transition.
“We often break or Frankenstein many animation assets to do things they’re not supposed to do,” Ruhl says. “This is one example of what we like to call making hot dogs in the coffee maker, where we use systems far outside their intended use case, but it still works.”
On-Off Relationships
Following the game jam, Date Night was presented to BioWare’s executive team, where it received a positive response. Ruhl then began outlining the project in detail.
To help, a narrative standard was established for what a Date Night would involve. First, it was essential for the storytelling to be character-driven. Each date needed to reflect the personality of the companion and deepen the player’s relationship with them. In addition, players had to be able to express different romantic dynamics; it could not be a simple binary “on-off” romance state. And, unlike main story romances, a Date Night had to be repeatable and allow players to re-experience relationships. Finally, rather than receiving arbitrary loot, players would earn sentimental keepsakes tied to their experience, such as Theron’s datapad.
As the team worked towards launching Date Night, anticipation grew organically among players. Eagle-eyed data miners uncovered hints of the feature, sparking speculation and excitement across The Old Republic’s online communities.
“We had inadvertently created a guerrilla marketing campaign for Date Night that drove players to our live streams and content patches,” Ruhl recalls.
Date Night’s Valentine’s Day launch was an instant success, with players sharing screenshots, videos, and heartfelt messages of appreciation. It also succeeded in drawing some lapsed players back, enticed by the opportunity to experience the new romance content.
“They expressed so much joy seeing these companion characters getting screen time to be themselves, flaws and all. The main critique of Date Night was: ‘I wish the scene was longer.’”
Aside from bringing some much-needed smooching to the Star Wars: The Old Republic, Ruhl says the entire process, from game jam to release, was a valuable learning experience.
“Always be thinking of how you can reuse assets, tools, and processes to make something new, finding cost-effective ways to create more content for your players,” she says.
“And never underestimate the power of hot dogs in the coffee maker.”
Read more reports from GDC 2025.
