On June 19, 2009, Star Wars: The Old Republic was still more than two years away from launch. There were no guild arguments over loot yet. No flashpoint queues. No Sith Warriors dramatically threatening people in dialogue wheels. No one had spent 45 minutes in character creation trying to decide whether their Jedi looked noble or just tired. But SWTOR was already telling its story. That day marked the end of Threat of Peace Act 1: Treaty of Coruscant, the first act of the pre-launch webcomic that helped set the stage for BioWare’s Old Republic MMO. And looking back, it is hard to overstate how important that setup was. Because SWTOR was not built on a clean war. It was built on a bad peace. The Treaty of Coruscant Was SWTOR’s Original Wound The Treaty of Coruscant is one of the most important events in SWTOR’s entire backstory. The Sith…
Star Wars Gamer Magazine Was Where the Galaxy Still Felt Like a Hobby
On June 19, 2001, Star Wars Gamer 4 was published by Wizards of the Coast. That sentence may not sound as dramatic as “a new Star Wars game launched” or “LucasArts changed PC gaming forever,” but it points to something just as interesting: a lost era when Star Wars gaming culture lived on paper. Before Discord servers. Before Reddit threads. Before YouTube lore explainers with thumbnail faces screaming at clone troopers. Before every build guide, patch note, mod, tier list, and argument was only one search away. There was a magazine. And for a specific kind of Star Wars fan, Star Wars Gamer was exactly the kind of strange, niche, deeply nerdy thing that made the galaxy feel like a hobby instead of a content machine. Star Wars Gaming Was Bigger Than Video Games The name Star Wars Gamer sounds like it should have been only about video games. But…
Before TikTok Edits, Star Wars Scene Maker Let Fans Direct the Trilogy Themselves
On June 19, 2014, Disney released something that now feels weirdly ahead of its time: Star Wars Scene Maker. Not a full console game. Not a serious cinematic adventure. Not an RPG where your choices decide the fate of the galaxy. An iPad app where fans could recreate, rearrange, and remix famous scenes from the original trilogy using 3D characters, environments, dialogue, music, and camera tools. Basically, before TikTok edits, YouTube Shorts, CapCut templates, and “what if Anakin was in this scene?” fan videos took over half the internet, Disney gave fans a little Star Wars director’s chair and said: go on, make a mess. Beautiful. Star Wars Scene Maker Was a Tiny Director Sandbox The official pitch was simple: fans could step into the role of director and recreate iconic Star Wars moments. The app launched with The Battle of Endor from Return of the Jedi as its free…
George Lucas Knew Adults Would Fight the Prequels. The Kids Were the Point.
For years, the standard story about the Star Wars prequels was simple. Older fans were angry. Critics were cruel. Jar Jar became a punchline. Hayden Christensen took far more heat than any young actor ever should. And the internet, still discovering its full power to be awful in public, decided that The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith were a betrayal of “real” Star Wars. But according to Ian McDiarmid, George Lucas saw a lot of that coming. Speaking at Spacecon 2026, McDiarmid said Lucas knew older fans from the original trilogy era might be picky about the prequels. But Lucas also had a different target in mind: kids. Or, as McDiarmid recalled Lucas putting it, “if an 8-year-old is happy,” he had done his work. That one line explains the prequel trilogy better than 25 years of shouting ever did. The Prequels Were Never…
SWTOR’s Most Important Update Might Not Be Ryloth. It Might Be DirectX 12
Ryloth is exciting. Game Update 8.0 sounds like a proper next step for Star Wars: The Old Republic. A new planet, level 85, Dynamic Encounters, combat updates, and a fresh Operation will always get attention. But SWTOR’s most important future update might not be a planet. It might be DirectX 12. Not as flashy? Sure. Less likely to make a dramatic trailer with Sith staring into fog? Absolutely. But if we are talking about the long-term health of SWTOR, the move away from DirectX 9 could matter more than almost anything else on the roadmap. SWTOR Is Still Modernizing Under the Hood SWTOR’s technical team has explained that modernization remains a major priority for the game. Over the past few years, that has included visual updates, character refreshes, environment improvements, and the move to a 64-bit client. DirectX 12 is the next big technical mountain. And from the sound of…
The Best Star Wars Games to Play With Friends in 2026: Co-Op, Multiplayer, Couch and Online Picks
Some Star Wars games are perfect solo experiences. You sit alone, choose the dark side “just to see what happens,” and suddenly your Jedi has become a walking HR complaint with lightning hands. But Star Wars is also brilliant with friends. Sometimes that means online squads. Sometimes it means couch co-op. Sometimes it means MMO guild nights. Sometimes it means one person flying an X-wing directly into a Star Destroyer while insisting, very loudly, that “the controls are weird.” So if you are looking for the best Star Wars games to play with friends, this guide breaks down the strongest options in 2026. Not just the best Star Wars games overall. The best ones for co-op, multiplayer, couch chaos, online battles, long-term guilds, strategy nights, space dogfights, and friendship-ending hero picks. You can also explore the wider history of playable Star Wars in our Complete List of All Star Wars…
After Legacy Reborn, SWTOR’s Real Future Might Be Ryloth
Legacy Reborn may be the finale, but it is not the end of the road for Star Wars: The Old Republic. In fact, the most interesting thing about SWTOR right now might be what comes after the ancient Sith machinery, Darth Jadus, Darth Nul’s masterworks, Khar Shian, and everyone’s favorite galaxy-ending “please stop touching old Sith things” problem. Because Game Update 8.0 is already being positioned as the next era of SWTOR’s story. And the big headline is Ryloth. Ryloth Is a Smart Choice for SWTOR The official livestream recap for Game Update 7.9 revealed that 8.0 will introduce Ryloth, the Twi’lek homeworld, as a new planet with Dynamic Encounters. That is a very good pick. Ryloth has always had strong Star Wars identity. It is not just another rocky planet with dramatic lighting and a suspicious number of ruins. It carries history, occupation, resistance, culture, clan politics, and one…
Before SWTOR Launched, Blood of the Empire Made the Sith Empire Feel Dangerous
On June 18, 2010, Star Wars: The Old Republic was still more than a year away from launch. Players had not yet rolled their first Sith Inquisitor. Nobody had rage-quit a flashpoint over loot. Nobody had spent too long choosing between two nearly identical robes because one had slightly better villain energy. But SWTOR was already building its world. That day marked the release of Blood of the Empire Act 2: The Broken World, the second chapter of the pre-launch webcomic that helped define what BioWare’s Old Republic era was going to feel like: political, brutal, ancient, and very comfortable with Sith making everyone’s day worse. This Was SWTOR Before SWTOR Before the MMO arrived, Blood of the Empire gave fans a taste of the Sith Empire from the inside. Not as a vague evil faction. Not as a faceless army of red lightsabers and dramatic robes. But as a…
SWTOR’s Legacy Reborn Trailer Is Late, But It Still Makes the Sith Finale Look Dangerous
SWTOR has released a new launch trailer for Legacy Reborn, and yes, it is a little funny that the “launch trailer” arrived after many players have already launched themselves directly into ancient Sith trouble. But timing jokes aside, the trailer does something useful. It reminds everyone what Legacy Reborn is really about: Darth Jadus, Darth Nul’s masterworks, Khar Shian, Naga Sadow’s forgotten fortress, and the kind of Old Republic Sith nonsense that makes this game still feel uniquely valuable in Star Wars. You can watch the new Legacy Reborn launch trailer below: Jadus Is Back Where He Belongs: Making Everything Worse The trailer’s setup is simple and sharp. Darth Jadus has stolen the key to Darth Nul’s masterworks, and the race to Khar Shian has begun. That is a very SWTOR sentence. Most Star Wars stories would be content with “bad guy stole dangerous thing.” SWTOR, being SWTOR, turns that…
20 Years Ago, George Lucas Officially Became Science Fiction History
On June 17, 2006, George Lucas was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Which feels obvious now. Of course he was. This is George Lucas. The man did not simply make a popular movie series. He built a galaxy, broke the toy aisle, changed visual effects, rewired blockbuster filmmaking, and accidentally created the kind of fandom argument machine that may outlive civilization itself. But the 2006 induction still matters, because it placed Lucas exactly where Star Wars had always belonged: not just in pop culture, but in science fiction history. Star Wars Was Never “Just Space Fantasy” For decades, Star Wars has carried a strange label problem. Some people call it science fiction. Others insist it is fantasy with lasers. Some call it mythology. Some call it pulp adventure. Some call it a merchandising empire with excellent sound design. The annoying truth is that it is all of…
Shadows of the Empire Got a Sequel Before Star Wars Multimedia Was Normal
On June 17, 1998, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire – Evolution #5 arrived, bringing Guri’s follow-up story to a close. That sounds like a small comic-book anniversary. It is not. Because Shadows of the Empire was never just one Star Wars story. It was a full multimedia experiment before every franchise on Earth decided it needed a roadmap, a tie-in novel, three streaming shows, six limited series, and a collectible popcorn bucket shaped like emotional damage. In the mid-1990s, Shadows of the Empire did something wild: it tried to create the feeling of a major Star Wars movie event without actually making a movie. And somehow, it worked. The Star Wars Movie That Wasn’t a Movie Shadows of the Empire lived between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, filling the gap while Han Solo was frozen, Luke was recovering, Leia was planning, and the galaxy was…
Captain Carson Teva Has Joined Galaxy of Heroes, and the New Republic Finally Has Its Space Cop
There are many ways to bring order to the galaxy. A lightsaber helps. A Death Star definitely makes a statement, though HR may have questions. But sometimes, what you really need is Captain Carson Teva showing up in an X-wing, looking tired, suspicious, and absolutely done with everyone’s Outer Rim nonsense. The New Republic pilot has now arrived on the holotable in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, bringing another live-action era character into the game’s expanding New Republic lineup. And yes, he is exactly the kind of character who makes more sense in SWGOH than people might first think. Carson Teva Is Built Around Keeping the Peace EA’s official kit reveal describes Carson Teva as a Light Side Attacker with Constable, New Republic, and Rebel tags. More importantly, he is designed as a New Republic leader who turns his squad into a counterattack machine. That fits the character perfectly. Carson…
Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1993): The Sequel That Made the SNES Trilogy Even Meaner
If Super Star Wars (1992) was the moment Star Wars finally found the right kind of 16-bit violence, then Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was the sequel that looked at that formula and said, “Good. Now make it colder, harder, and just a little bit crueler.” That was a solid creative choice. Released for the Super Nintendo in 1993, the game was developed by Sculptured Software and LucasArts and published by JVC Musical Industries. It was the second entry in the Super Star Wars trilogy, based on The Empire Strikes Back, and it would later be followed by Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in 1994. As part of our Complete List of All Star Wars Games Ever Made (1979–Present), this is one of those games that really earns its spot. It also sits naturally in the Star Wars Games (1990–1999) hub, right next to the games…
Before YouTube Guides, Star Wars: Episode I Racer Needed a Book
On June 16, 1999, Star Wars: Episode I Racer got the most 1999 thing imaginable. A strategy guide. Not a YouTube walkthrough. Not a Discord build thread. Not a 12-minute video called “BEST PODRACER SETUP, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG.” A book. Star Wars: Episode I Racer: Prima’s Official Strategy Guide arrived for players who needed help surviving the galaxy’s most irresponsible motorsport, and honestly, that little paperback says a lot about how different Star Wars gaming used to feel. Podracing Was Fast, Weird, and Mean Episode I Racer was not just a quick movie tie-in. It was one of the great Star Wars gaming memories of the Nintendo 64 era: fast, dangerous, slightly chaotic, and somehow much better than a game about tiny space engines had any right to be. The pitch was simple. Take the podracing scene from The Phantom Menace, crank the speed until the controller starts sweating,…
Star Wars Zero Company’s Most Interesting Detail Might Be Its Separatist Cult Villain
Star Wars Zero Company already has the easy pitch. Clone Wars. Turn-based tactics. A gritty squad of operatives. Cover, blasters, droids, Jedi, Mandalorians, permadeath, and enough tactical panic to make every bad decision feel personally expensive. But the most interesting detail might not be the squad. It might be the villain. EA describes the game’s central threat as Kundri Fathom, the enigmatic leader of a Separatist-aligned cult called the Infinite Coil. That single idea instantly makes Zero Company feel more interesting than “go fight battle droids again.” Because a Separatist cult? That is the good weird stuff. The Clone Wars Needs More Than Familiar Faces The Clone Wars era is packed with recognizable pieces. Clone troopers. Jedi generals. Battle droids. Separatist bases. Republic officers. Mandalorians. Dark schemes. Political collapse. Excellent helmets. That is all great, obviously. But a new Star Wars game cannot survive only by pointing at familiar toys…
The Day The Clone Wars Stopped Being “Just a Cartoon”
On June 16, 2013, Star Wars animation quietly crossed a line. That was the night Star Wars: The Clone Wars won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Animation, after years of being treated by some people as the “extra” Star Wars thing. The side project. The cartoon. The show for kids while the “real” saga lived in the movies. Then it won. And suddenly that argument looked a lot weaker. The Clone Wars Had Already Earned Respect By 2013, anyone actually watching The Clone Wars knew what the show had become. It was no longer just filling gaps between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. It was expanding Anakin’s fall, turning Ahsoka Tano into one of the most important characters in modern Star Wars, making the clones feel like actual people, and giving the prequel era more emotional weight than the films ever had time to…
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes Was Announced 11 Years Ago, and Somehow It Became the Mobile Game That Wouldn’t Die
On June 15, 2015, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes was announced to the world. At the time, it sounded like exactly the kind of thing Star Wars fans had learned to treat with cautious optimism and one eyebrow raised: a mobile collectible RPG built around assembling teams of heroes, villains, ships, factions, and deep-cut characters from across the galaxy. Eleven years later, the punchline is obvious. This thing did not just survive. It became one of the longest-running, strangest, most stubbornly successful Star Wars games ever made. Nobody Expected It to Last This Long Back in 2015, mobile Star Wars games did not exactly feel like guaranteed legacy material. Some were fun. Some were temporary. Some vanished into the same digital pit where old app-store games go to become trivia questions. Galaxy of Heroes could easily have been another one of those. Instead, it became a daily ritual for a…
The Mandalorian and Grogu Just Crossed $315 Million, and Star Wars Finally Escaped Solo’s Shadow
For years, theatrical Star Wars has been haunted by one name. Not Palpatine. Not Snoke. Not “somehow.” Solo. Ever since Solo: A Star Wars Story underperformed in 2018, every conversation about Star Wars returning to theaters has carried the same nervous question: can this franchise still work on the big screen without being a billion-dollar Skywalker Saga event? The Mandalorian and Grogu may have finally given Lucasfilm the answer. No, it is not the biggest Star Wars movie ever. No, it is not pulling The Force Awakens numbers. But according to Box Office Mojo, the film has crossed $315 million worldwide and currently sits as the 7th highest-grossing movie of 2026. That matters. This Is Not a Flop Story Anymore The online box office debate around The Mandalorian and Grogu has been weird from the start. Some wanted it to be a disaster. Some wanted it to be a triumphant…
Ahsoka Season 2 Might Finally Give Ezra Bridger the Spotlight He Deserves
Ezra Bridger may be getting a much bigger role in Ahsoka Season 2. According to panel reports from SpaceCon San Antonio, Eman Esfandi reportedly confirmed that Ezra will appear throughout the entirety of the upcoming second season. That would be a major shift from Season 1, where Ezra was more of a destination than a full-time character, only appearing properly in the final stretch of the story. And honestly, that might be exactly what Ahsoka needs. Season 1 Was About Finding Ezra Ezra’s role in Ahsoka Season 1 was strange by design. He was not just a missing person. He was the emotional engine behind Sabine’s decisions, Ahsoka’s mission, Hera’s concerns, and the entire search beyond the known galaxy. The story treated him like a myth, a friend, a sacrifice, and a loose thread from Star Wars Rebels that had been waiting years to be pulled. That worked for the…
Manny Jacinto’s Favorite Star Wars Movies Say a Lot About Why Fans Love the Weird Stuff
Manny Jacinto has picked his favorite Star Wars movies, and honestly, the man has range. The Acolyte actor, who played Qimir/The Stranger, recently said his top choices outside of his own show are Rogue One and The Phantom Menace. On paper, that sounds like two very different corners of the galaxy. One is grim, grounded, tragic, and ends with Darth Vader turning a hallway into a horror movie. The other gave a generation podracing, battle droids, Naboo politics, Darth Maul, and the eternal childhood thrill of going way too fast on Nintendo 64. Somehow, the combination makes perfect sense. Rogue One Is the Easy Pick, But for Good Reason Jacinto pointed to Rogue One partly because of the stunt team connection to The Acolyte, but also because of that Darth Vader hallway scene. Fair. That scene has become one of the most talked-about Vader moments in modern Star Wars because…
Cody Rhodes Just Explained The Last Jedi Better Than Half the Internet
Star Wars: The Last Jedi discourse is apparently the Sarlacc pit of fandom. You think it is over. You think everyone has escaped. Then someone says “Luke Skywalker” online, and suddenly we are all back in the sand screaming again. This time, though, WWE star Cody Rhodes has entered the arena with one of the better defenses of The Last Jedi we have heard in years. According to GeekTyrant, Rhodes explained that his love for the film is deeply personal and oddly wrestling-related. The short version: he did not want Luke Skywalker returning as a shiny action figure version of himself. He wanted the broken old legend with one final meaningful punch left in him. And honestly? That is a much better way to understand the movie. Luke Was Never Going to Be 1983 Forever A lot of the anger around The Last Jedi comes from one expectation: Luke Skywalker…
SWTOR Is Finally Turning Darth Nul From Mystery Into Myth
For years, Star Wars: The Old Republic has been at its best when it remembers that Sith lore should feel dangerous, ancient, and slightly like something nobody sane should have opened. Enter Darth Nul. Not just another red-lightsaber problem. Not just another name carved into some old ruin because the Sith apparently never met a wall they did not want to monologue on. Darth Nul has become one of SWTOR’s most interesting mysteries because she sits at the center of several things the game does unusually well: forgotten Sith history, dangerous relics, personal obsession, and the uncomfortable idea that some secrets should probably stay dead. Darth Nul Is More Than a Holocron The recent Legacy Reborn storyline puts Darth Nul’s holocron right at the heart of the chaos. Darth Jadus has stolen it. Heta Kol and the Hidden Chain have reconstructed Darth Nul’s ultimate machine on Khar Shian. Darth Malgus…
Star Wars Galactic Racer Might Be Weirder Than Simple Podracing Nostalgia
At first glance, Star Wars: Galactic Racer looks like the easiest nostalgia pitch in the galaxy. Fast ships. Dusty tracks. Dangerous turns. Sebulba lurking around like a small, angry insurance problem. But the latest story trailer suggests this is not just Episode I: Racer with modern lighting and a shinier menu. Galactic Racer may actually be doing something stranger: mixing Star Wars racing with a runs-based structure that sounds suspiciously close to roguelite design. And honestly? That might be the smartest thing about it. This Is Not Just “Go Fast, Win Race” The new Star Wars: Galactic Racer story trailer introduces Shade, an up-and-coming racer trying to take down corrupt Galactic League champion Kestar Bool. That is already a solid racing-game setup. New challenger. Big villain. Personal grudge. Dangerous circuits. A sponsor probably pretending this is all very safe. But the gameplay structure is where things get interesting. The game…
SWTOR PvP Season 10 Is Asking Players to Grind for Honor Again
SWTOR PvP players, it is time to return to the arena, pretend this match will be calm, and then immediately watch someone leap into chaos like credits are falling from the ceiling. PvP Season 10, Honor in Battle, is now live in Star Wars: The Old Republic, bringing a new reward track, new armor sets, decorations, titles, flairs, achievements, and vendor items. And because this is SWTOR PvP, the real question is not “are there rewards?” The real question is: how badly do you want them? The Honor in Battle Grind Is Live According to the official SWTOR update, Free-to-Play and Preferred players receive 4 Weekly Objectives, while Subscribers receive 6 Weekly Objectives after the weekly reset. All players can complete up to 4 objectives per week to progress the reward track. That keeps the structure simple enough. Play PvP. Complete objectives. Earn progress. Try not to type anything regrettable…