Coruscant Underworld (battlefield)

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This article is about the Grand Arena battlefield. You may be looking for the Coruscant Underworld.

Coruscant Underworld was a battlefield within the Grand Arena on the planet Vespaara. The design and structure of the battlefield were based on the skyscrapers and underbelly of the planet Coruscant. In 9 ABY, Arena co-owner Balada commissioned for the construction of the Coruscant Underworld battlefield to ensure that the Kubaz Hunter Glikkin—who was a newcomer at the time—felt right at home.

Description

The Coruscant Underworld was a battlefield built for the competitive sporting show Hunters of the Outer Rim within the Grand Arena on the planet Vespaara.[2] The battlefield was covered by bright advertising signs and colorful graffiti throughout as it was based on the underbelly of the planet Coruscant.[3] It also emulated the great heights[2] of Coruscant's skyscrapers.[4] One interior section of the battlefield was designed around a cantina with advertisements for sabacc and Dex's Diner. The center platform of Coruscant Underworld was a recreation of an active crime scene—specifically the aftermath of a cargo heist—with two LAAT/le patrol gunships hovering above and beaming their lights at it.[3] Additionally, various interconnected walkways and alleys were scattered throughout the battlefield. Unlike other battlefields, Coruscant Underworld was visibly darker as the skies of Vespaara were nowhere to be seen. However, lines of airspeeder traffics could be seen up above and around the battlefield. Audience who attended live matches were able to view them from a towering podium at the side of the battlefield.[2]

History

In 9 ABY,[1] the Coruscant Underworld battlefield was commissioned by the Arena co-owner Balada the Hutt for the Hunters of the Outer Rim. It was designed specifically to ensure that the[3] Kubaz[2] Hunter Glikkin—who was the newest addition to the show's roster at the time—to feel right at home.[3] Later, following Glikkin's introduction to the Grand Arena, the battlefield was fully operational and in use for the competitive show.[2]

Behind the scenes

Coruscant Underworld is a battlefield that was initially set to be added to Star Wars: Hunters on January 27, 2025, to coincide with the PC early access release of the game.[5] While the PC release was pushed back indefinitely,[6] Coruscant Underworld was added to the game as part of Season 5,[7] on January 28 of the same year.[8] During the development of Coruscant Underworld, the map was initially named Locklands. Concept artists Anna Kay[9] and Giu Grassi contributed to the visual development of the map.[10]

Star Wars: Hunters
Storyboards Concept art Digital renderings In-progress artwork

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 ArenaNews-Logo Hunters Goes Galactic! on Arena News (original site is defunct) establishes that Star Wars: Hunters begins when the Grand Arena partnered with the Outer Rim Sports Network, dated to 9 ABY in Star Wars: Timelines. This includes the commission and construction of the Coruscant Underworld battlefield explained in Hunters-favicon Explore the Coruscant Underworld! on Star Wars: Hunters' official website (original site is defunct)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Star Wars: Hunters
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Hunters-favicon Explore the Coruscant Underworld! on Star Wars: Hunters' official website (original site is defunct)
  4. ↑ StarWarsHunters-Logo Star Wars: Hunters — Story: "Coruscant Underworld"
  5. ↑ Hunters-favicon PC Announcement on Star Wars: Hunters' official website (original site is defunct)
  6. ↑ Discord-Logo Star Wars: Hunters (@swhunters) in Star Wars: Hunters's Discord server (January 9, 2025): "To ensure we deliver the best possible experience, we've made the decision to forgo Steam Playtest 2 and move back the launch of Early Access to implement as much feedback as we can." (message link) (screenshot)
  7. ↑ Hunters-favicon Season 5 Patch Notes on Star Wars: Hunters' official website (original site is defunct)
  8. ↑ TwitterLogo Zynga Star Wars (@ZyngaStarWars) on Twitter (post on January 28, 2025): "Glikkin Enters the Arena in Season 5: Scum and Villainy. Here's an overview of everything to come... #StarWarsHunters" (original link is obsolete) (screenshot)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 ArtStation-Logo Anna Kay (@annakay) on ArtStation: Star Wars Hunters - Environment Sketches (April 22, 2025): "I supported the environment team in providing early concepts for several key areas of Vader's Castle and Coruscant Underworld as well as some early set dressing design for old Tatooine and Endor maps. I also explored what would Rieve's Dressing Room look like; the purpose of this concept was to explore Rieve's personality through her personal quarters." (backup link) (screenshot)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 ArtStation-Logo Giu Grassi on ArtStation: CORUSCANT UNDERGROUND (June 12, 2025): "This wide shot concept was useful to the team to understand how big the game map should be in order to give the feeling to be underground surrounded by super structure and give an idea of feasibility in terms of poly-count and FX." (backup link) (screenshot)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 ArtStation-Logo Giu Grassi on ArtStation: CORUSCANT UNDERGROUND (June 20, 2025): "Some Shop or facility in the heart of the Coruscant underground level 1313 likewise. If I remember this was a kind of Bio-tech Pharmacy Shop of some sort. When easily they change your natural arm in a droid one. you can find something similar in the game hunters." (backup link) (screenshot)