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Lucasfilm confirms all future Star Wars content to be canon, including the games

Lucasfilm announces its plans for handling the Expanded Universe.

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In an announcement today, Lucasfilm clarified its approach to the Star Wars canon as we approach the launch of the next trilogy of films. The stories told in the Expanded Universe--which consists of games, books, comics, and so on--has always been considered non-canon, distinguishing it from the main content found in the six movies and the animated Clone Wars series. While elements of the EU have found their way into the main series, series creator George Lucas has made it clear in the past that his works would not be stuck abiding by anything in the EU.

Now, in the wake of The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, changes are being made. With the help of a new story group that will oversee "all Star Wars creative development," today's announcement states that "all aspects of Star Wars storytelling moving forward will be connected."

No Caption Provided

That means that all Star Wars media released in the future will be part of the official canon, which will continue to disregard anything in the existing EU. New novels from Del Rey Books, as well as the upcoming Star Wars Rebels TV animated series, will be among the first releases to tell new canonical stories. "While the universe that readers knew is changing, it is not being discarded. Creators of new Star Wars entertainment have full access to the rich content of the Expanded Universe."

A Lucasfilm representative confirmed to GameSpot that future game releases will also be canonical. This includes DICE's Battlefront and Visceral's new Star Wars game being written by former Naughty Dog creative director Amy Hennig and Uncharted actor Todd Stashwick. Both games are being published by Electronic Arts, which signed a multiyear deal to produce Star Wars video games in 2013.

The recent delay of the latest expansion for another EA title, Star Wars: The Old Republic, is unrelated to today's announcement. The Lucasfilm rep told GameSpot, "[A]s far as The Old Republic MMO is concerned, nothing is going to change. [TOR] has always been a part of the Expanded Universe, and that's not going to change."

What do you make of these changes to the franchise? Are there any parts of the Expanded Universe you wish were considered canon? Let us know in the comments.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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Jarten

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So which of the movie versions of A New Hope is canon? I know the original one is because Han Solo shoots first.

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SlaviksG

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Probably original cuz now Lucas is gone, and nerds are in the contol

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DrKill09

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@Jarten Which reminds me; if you want the ORIGINAL unaltered trilogy in HD, search for "harmy's despecialized" editions. FAR better than those crappy, non-anamorphic LaserDisc rips Lucas gave us a few years back.

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NotoriousJEEBUS

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This is kind of cool. I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but I never really liked Star Wars except for the Clone Wars Series.

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Karchy

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Is Star Wars XXX canon?

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varunviii

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Who cares as long as they are good

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SlaviksG

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YES!

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deactivated-6412a46e5e6e1

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Maybe JJ will introduce an alternate Star Wars timeline preserving both canons and enable Benedict Cumberbatch to return as Vader...

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Bumblebee1138

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Hell no!

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CrashOV

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<< LINK REMOVED >> JJ Abrams and Benedict Cumberbatch. Might as well just give up before starting.

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GSyynoandnoyyGS

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Unless if the movie will take place between the Order 66 and Star Wars IV, I doubt Vader will be featured

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deactivated-5ed5ff7933d88

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"Both games are being published by Electronic Arts, which signed a multiyear deal to produce ..."

...you lost me at "Electronic Arts"...

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S-181

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Well, apologies to SWTOR fans, but what I'm hoping for out of this is that SWTOR is somehow retconned while KOTOR is canonised. I'm not a fan of the way that SWTOR continued Revan's story. Also, the way they did away with an interesting and unique setting from KOTOR and replaced it with what was essentially a prequels Republic vs Galactic Empire was rather unoriginal.

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Avatar image for texasgoldrush
texasgoldrush

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<< LINK REMOVED >>

Were you even paying attention to the first game...there was an Empire vs Republic conflict there as well...but it was Revan and malak's Empire instead of Vitale's.

And it was Drew Karpyshyn, who wrote, KOTOR, who continued Revan's story is SWTOR. It was the same writer.

And really, they cannot make SWTOR non canon, because the MMO is still ongoing, and it is by far the most significant EU franchise.

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S-181

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> In terms of the setting, I was referring to the fact that in SWTOR the Republic's visual style is essentially a copy-paste of the Republic in the prequels, including armour that looked rather like that worn by clone troopers. SWTOR's Empire, as well, was artistically more than a little influenced by the Galactic Empire of the original films, especially in the design of many of the starships which were heavily influenced by TIE fighter designs. Basically the art style was highly unoriginal and designed purely to be recognisable to the general public. In respect to the story, the fact that it is the same writer does not mean I have to be pleased with it.

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S-181

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Taris was similar to Coruscant, but it was a crumbling city past its glory days. The game explored a brutal, hopeless underworld and a formerly great planet riddled with crime and under an authoritarian dictatorship. Regardless, one planet is hardly the same as the entire premise of the story being (in my opinion) a largely unoriginal marketing ploy.

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texasgoldrush

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

Its the same for KOTOR...its the same for Taris.

You are applying double standards.

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ValmartheMagi

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> You are just a downer all the time aren't you?

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Shantmaster_K

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I like it. I think I didn't read many of the books, because they were "unofficial".

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Mr_Mark_Legion

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<< LINK REMOVED >>

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hitomo

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there is no Canon cause there is no coherent Fantasy universe ... there is no sophisticated thought behind star wars universe, ist only a Merchandising canvas and was never more ...


the first 3 movies, wherer lucas where only camera man and teh serious work was handeled by professionals, are Canon ... the rest is a load of BS

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DAOWAce

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..Games? ..Canon?

April 1st was nearly a month ago..

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DrKill09

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Yeah, with this logic, the Super Star Wars trilogy (my FAVORITE Star Wars games) would not exist.

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Bumblebee1138

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Not sure if sarcasm or real.....

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soccerpzn

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wow to many people here have no idea what star wars cannon is.

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homelessgamer

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<< LINK REMOVED >> what is it?

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soccerpzn

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>that depends how much you consider something canon. The only true cannon is what George Lucas made which is star wars episode 1-6 and some other things, so technically anything that isn't in those movies or mentioned isn't canon. But everyone considers everything that was made under the star wars name to be cannon.

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locke90

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> he mentions in the original trilogy that he fought in the clone wars so naturally you expect cloned jedi lucas changed that original idea


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Metallinatus

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

Link me to the scene of the original trilogy where he says the Clone Wars was a war of cloned Jedi.

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s_h_a_d_o

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<< LINK REMOVED >>

Using Lucas' name in the same sentence as 'canon'... not sure if serious. :|

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locke90

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> the prequels were all crap there were no actual links to any of the original movies if anything the war which obi wan kenobi spoke of was actually refering to an army of cloned jedi not an army of cloned boba fetts what lucas did was bs.

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Unfallen_Satan

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George Lucas was smart. The EU allowed a multitude to enrich SW without jeopardizing his core vision. Now, to make sure eveything is connected sensically, Disney has to oversee everything; in the process, they will undoubtedly cramp the universe with their limitations. SW has grown beyond the capacity of any one institution to regulate. Although I don't doubt there will still be good games in the future, my expectation of the franchise as a whole is not high.

On the other hand, to be canonically knowledgeable, the next gen of fans have to consume everything Disney puts out. So, at least somebody wins, and it's fair. Disney paid good money for the rights to SW.

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soccerpzn

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@Unfallen_Satan to bad most of the stuff out there thats not canon was crap very few were actually pretty good and even then some still screw up the SW canon.

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Unfallen_Satan

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I know of a few crappy SW games but most I've played are gold, maybe silver. I don't know about the other media, but that's just my point. What do I care? They are not even officially connected to the games I play.

I don't understand how EU can screw up SW canon since by definition they are not canon. Can you provide an example?

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Unfallen_Satan

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<< LINK REMOVED >> That sounds good, and I would add X-wing and TIE Fighter to the list of good games, but which games are bad? The only not so great one I recall is The Force Unleashed; 1 was ok. I am also curious what material, if any, messes with canon Star Wars.

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soccerpzn

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@Unfallen_Satan good star wars games are kotor 1, jedi knight, and battefront. Then for novels ] thawn, bane, and some old republic books. out of all of the star wars material out there very few are actually good.

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texasgoldrush

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So if all Star Wars media released in the future is canon...well the Old Republic is still going on, so that means, when new content is introduced, its canon...which makes everything in The Old Republic canon, which makes the first two games and the entire franchise canon.

So really, the Old Republic franchise is canon.

And LucasFilm would be morons to decanon The Old Republic franchise.

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soccerpzn

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<< LINK REMOVED >> as much as i like the Old Republic franchise it should never ever be considered cannon.

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texasgoldrush

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

Its better than Lucas's movies, except for maybe Empire Strikes Back.

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JRLennis

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>Actually, it does make sense. The Republic was a decadent and stagnant civilization at the time of the prequel films, held together only by the efforts of the Jedi Order. When ambition is so curtailed for hundreds of generations, it's no surprise that things snowballed very quickly during the Clone Wars and after. The Empire was a legacy of 4000 years of stagnation.

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soccerpzn

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> yes it takes 4,000 years without even a hint of advancement in technology or the rise of other civilizations. The Old Republic pretty much made the Star Wars universe stagnant for 4,000 years and everything stayed the same which makes no sense.

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DarthPenguin111

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>How does it screw everything up? It takes place 4000 years ago, plenty of empires/republics can rise and fall in 4000 years. Besides, not like it would really affect anything in the movies...

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texasgoldrush

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

No it doesn't....it stays out of the movies way

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soccerpzn

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>yea the old republic is good but the fact that its based 4,000 before the movies screws up everything about the movies.

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shinta125

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Can't imagine how much work will have to be done on Wookiepedia. So many things to now fix and revise...

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