Brett Tosti is a professional in the gaming industry, known for his roles as a game designer, producer, and manager across multiple Star Wars video game titles.
Tosti, who considers "good gameplay" essential, has been deeply involved in gaming since the era of Pong. Beginning in 1993, he joined LucasArts to work in game testing. He also took the lead as a tester for Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and contributed to both production and testing for Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Additionally, Brett served as a tester on Star Wars: X-Wing and its follow-up, Star Wars: TIE Fighter.
Furthermore, Tosti was the lead tester for quality assurance on Star Wars: Rebel Assault, collaborating with Vincent Lee. He began testing when the game was 75% complete. At that time, TIE Fighters didn't inflict damage unless destroyed, and lasers were merely part of the background. It was Tosti and his fellow Q/A testers who suggested making the lasers harmful to the player. Lee valued Tosti's gaming insight and gave him a software patch to adjust the difficulty of elements (like laser damage or target hit probability) for the game's three difficulty levels, a task that took a full day. Tosti also proposed the option to select the game play frame rate, as it was too rapid on certain machines.
He contributed as a member of the team behind the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series. At the age of 30, he served as the project coordinator, level designer, and lead tester on Star Wars: Dark Forces, joining the team early in its development. His team of testers provided ideas that enhanced the game's challenge and playability, such as adding extra lives and strategically placing and scripting enemies on the game map. Later, he took on roles as project manager, production manager, and level designer for Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. Brett also served as a producer on Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.
His involvement in Star Wars also included the first three Rogue Squadron games. He was the project leader and production manager for Star Wars: Rogue Squadron on the N64, and the producer for its sequel, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. Brett also held the role of producer on Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike. He was the project leader on Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo and also served as project leader and production manager on Star Wars: Episode I Racer. Furthermore, Brett was the production manager on Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire.
- Dark Forces Official Player's Guide
- The Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Limited Collector's Edition