As much as I love forums, they have unfortunately become something of a relic of a more civilised age, thanks in part due to the rise of social media. So with that and a few other reasons in mind I will be putting the old forums into carbon freeze for the foreseeable future. In the mean time, I'd love if you would help us rebuild the community over on Discord by following the invite link below.

Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/wZYS8xVNZt

What about the forum content?

I will be setting everything to read only, so it can still be referred to but you will no longer be able to be post new topics or replies. This is partly due to the rise of spambots which have become increasingly difficult to keep on top of.

What about the rest of the site?

I am on refreshing the rest of the site soon, and focussing on the Star Wars Timeline, which has been a feature of the site since 2003. Perhaps in the future if there is enough interest I might find a way to post news articles again also.

Classic LucasArts game Star Wars: Republic Commando is being rereleased for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation4, it has been announced.

The fan favourite game, set in the prequel era and told from the perspective of a Republic Clonetrooper, was originally released in 2005 for Xbox and PC.

Lucasfilm Games and Aspyr have teamed up to make Republic Commando's return possible, with Lucasfilm Games executive producer Matt Fillbrandt, who worked on the original game as well as the rerelease version telling StarWars.com that he looks forward to the game being enjoyed by a new generation of fans.

Republic Commando sees the player take on the role of a member of Delta Squad, a Clone Commando unit during the Clone Wars, and features a single player storyline with tactical team-based action, with the player able to issue commands to their squad such as identifying targets for attack or healing an ally, across iconic Star Wars locations like Kashyyyk and Geonosis.

The game was also accompanied by a series of novels by Karen Traviss, and almost had a sequel. Despite now being considered part of the Legends continuity Republic Commando retains a foothold in Star Wars canon through Delta Squad, who appeared in an episode of The Clone Wars, and served as inspiration for Dave Filoni's creation of the show.

Star Wars: Republic Commando will be released on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation4 (PlayStation5 compatible) on 6 April 2021.

During yesterday's Nintendo Direct presentation it was revealed that Star Wars: Hunters is a new game in development by Zynga and Lucasfilm Games, and will be coming to the Nintendo Switch platform as well as iOS and Android devices later this year.

The will feature team-based multi-player battles in a competitive arena set after the end of the Galactic Civil War, although further details about gameplay or plot (if there is one) have not yet been revealed. 

Star Wars: Hunters draws inspiration from classic Star Wars stories and settings, but with a look and feel that is different from anything we have done before. We’re thrilled to introduce this wildly creative cast of characters to our fans on Nintendo Switch, where they can join with their friends in thrilling battles at home or on the go.

Douglas Reilly, VP of Lucasfilm Games

A short teaser was released, which you can check out below:

Star Wars: Hunters will arrive later in 2021 as a free download for the Nintendo Switch, and from the Apple App Store, and Google Play.

Hot on the heels of the resurrection of Lucasfilm Games, VP Douglas Reilly has revealed that Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment is among the studios lined up to develop new games for set within the Star Wars universe.

We’re looking to work with best-in-class teams that can make great games across all of our IP. We’ve got a team of professionals here at Lucasfilm Games who can work with the developers, shape the stories, shape the creative, shape the games, to make them really resonate with fans and deliver across a breadth of platforms, genres, and experiences so that all of our fans can enjoy the IPs that they know and love.

Douglas Reilly, VP Lucasfilm Games

The new as yet untitled game is to be a story-driven open-world experience. According to Massive Entertainment managing director David Polfeldt and creative director Julian Gerighty, discussions have been ongoing for around a year already and they are excited to finally reveal that things have progressed to the point where they can confirm that they will be building on their extensive experience from crafting open world games in their proprietary game engine, Snowdrop.

Reilly has also stated that EA will be sticking around, too and will have a big future in Star Wars gaming with a number of projects already underway.

It seems Lucasfilm Games will take on a guiding role in the creation of future Star Wars titles, acting in a a capacity similar to the Lucasfilm Story Group to ensure that games all have the authentic Star Wars aesthetic and retain a connection to the larger themes.

Lucasfilm Games is now the official home of Star Wars gaming, according to news from the official website.

Relaunching their social media channels and releasing a new sizzle reel celebrating current Star Wars titles, Lucasfilm Games is being repositioned as the hub for Star Wars gaming news and promises to push the franchise into "a new and unprecedented phase of creativity" by collaborating with Lucasfilm and top games studios. 

It's currently unclear what this means for the oft-criticised EA exclusivity deal that has been the source of much consternation amongst fans and gamers over the years since Disney disbanded LucasArts, but it does seem that by bringing all Star Wars games under a new and familiar banner the plan may be to allow more developers to play in the Star Wars universe.

There is no hint that Lucasfilm Games will become a developer in its own right, of course. Older fans will remember that the Lucasfilm Games brand was originally launched in 1982 before being renamed LucasArts in 1990. LucasArts were prolific, developing and publishing many games throughout their tenure before being disbanded by Disney in 2003 when the licence for Star Wars franchise games was handed over to EA.

Does this mean that Star Wars gaming news is on the way? I guess we will have to follow them and find out. You can follow Lucasfilm Games on Twitter @LucasfilmGames, and on Facebook @Lucasfilmgames.

Star Wars: Battlefront II: Celebration Edition will be free on Epic Games Store from 14 January until the 21st.

The game will, for next week only, be free to keep as part of your Epic Games library, with the previous two years of content that was previously available through in-game purchases. 

As the second game in the rebooted series from DICE and EA, Battlefront II is playable both online and offline and includes familiar heroes and villains from across the franchise up to and including The Rise of Skywalker customisations that were released on 20 December 2019.

So set a reminder for 14 January to check the Epic Games Store, as the offer won't be around forever.

Spoilers ahead: If you have not yet seen The Mandalorian season 2 finale, continue reading this article at your own risk.

The existence of a Boba Fett series has been heavily rumoured right from the very beginning of The Mandalorian. In season two we were finally reintroduced to Fett, played by Temuera Morrison as he helped Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) on his path the bring Grogu to the Jedi. After playing his part, Fett splits from the group along with his companion Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) and jumps into hyperspace.

After the credits have rolled on the episode we are treated to a post-credits scene which reveals the title card for The Book of Boba Fett and a date of December 2021. A Boba Fett spinoff was not part of the Disney Investor's Day announcements, but this isn't the first time that Disney have kept something quiet to avoid spoiling their plans. 

So what is The Book of Boba Fett?

Theory 1: It's just the title of The Mandalorian season 3

Given that Djarin has now fulfilled his obligation to bring Grogu to the Jedi (I did warn you there would be spoilers), series 3 will need a new focus.

There are unresolved threads that the series needs to address, such as Mando's possession of the Darksaber which Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) needs to legitimise her claim to Mandalore. Reclaiming Mandalore itself would seem to be an obvious choice for a series titled The Mandalorian.

There had also been rumours that Fett would take over as the lead character of the show, but with the aforementioned unresolved issues and Pascal coming out recently to address this year's earlier rumours of tension with the production team, this seems even more unlikely.

Theory 2: It's a brand new Disney+ show

To me, this theory holds the most weight. With Fett's return to Tatooine at the end of the episode, he clearly has some old scores to settle. The given release date of December 2021 does match up with the third season of The Mandalorian, suggesting that the series' may retain some kind of link. With Mando returning to Disney+ in late December, it seems that The Book of Boba Fett may be a short limited series that leads up to its return.

Jon Favreau, one of the forces behind the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, previously said that The Mandalorian would follow a Game of Thrones style route with characters and story lines, sending them off on their own arcs, and this ties in with this month's announcements of new shows for Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic, and also fits neatly with Fett getting his own spin-off too. 

Ahsoka and Rangers are already said to be linked and crossover with each other, and The Book of Boba Fett would mean that there are now four interconnected shows that share a common cast and space in the timeline. It seems that when Favreau mentioned Game of Thrones he was attempting to throw us off the scent that really Disney are creating an MCU-style ecosystem of shows within the Star Wars universe.

EA have released version 4.0 of Star Wars: Squadrons, adding two new starfighters to the game along with a host of bug-fixes.

This free update is available to all players, giving New Republic pilots access to the B-wing, while the Galactic Empire have obtained the TIE Defender.

The B-wing is classed as a bomber, and was first seen in Return of the Jedi, having been designed for the movie by Joe Johnston and Bill George, whereas the TIE Defender with it's unusual tri-wing design was created for the 1994 LucasArts game Star Wars: TIE Fighter, as a top spec TIE variant that hardier than the standard TIE Fighter due to having shields.

For the full list of changes, see the official patch notes.

Seemingly coming out of nowhere, the Disney 2020 Investor's Day call has revealed that the next Star Wars spin-off movie will be Rogue Squadron, from Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins.

As you would expect, there are very few details available right now, but long time fans and those that have delved into the Expanded Universe will be well aware of the exploits of the legendary Rogue Squadron, founded by Luke Skywalker after the Battle of Yavin, and spawning a myriad of novels, comics, and video games over the years.

Rogue Squadron is due to hit theatres Christmas 2023.

In today's Disney Investor Day call, it has been confirmed that a new Disney+ show featuring Rosario Dawson's Ahsoka Tano is in development.

Due to the early stages of development, we have no timeline on when we can expect to see the new show launch, but it was confirmed that the show would be set after the events of Star Wars: Rebels but before she encounters Din Djarin and Grogu in The Mandalorian season 2.

As fans of the togruta former Jedi would expect, Dave Filoni will serve as creator and executive producer for the new show. Filoni handled Ahsoka's live-action debut in The Mandalorian and is certainly no stranger to the character having executive produced The Clone Wars and Rebels.

The show will also tie in to another new series, Rangers of the New Republic, with which it will apparently have a climactic crossover.

Ahsoka is expected to return with her own show in 2022.

Ewan McGregor has confirmed that filming for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series for Disney+ will begin in March 2021.

The reveal came during McGregor's appearance on the BBC's Graham Norton Show this Friday.

The series is a six-episode limited series set in the time when Kenobi was exiled on Tatooine between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, 11 years before the Battle of Yavin.

Production has been delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak, and although no release date has yet been announced it is expected to premiere on the Disney+ streaming service in late 2021 or early 2022.

As we eagerly close in on next months release of the upcoming space combat game Star Wars: Squadrons, EA has released a visually stunning CG animated short to introduce us to the world that awaits us when we enter the game. 

Neel Upadhye directed the animated short, titled Hunted, which was created in collaboration with Squadrons developer Motive Studios and Lucasfilm, along with a dash of expertise from skilled visual effects artists at ILM such as Star Wars veteran John Knoll.

Squadrons features a single-player story mode featuring new and familiar characters and starships from the Empire and the Republic, as well as a squad-based multiplayer dogfight mode that will see the factions face off against each other in the aftermath of the Galactic Civil War.

You can read more about Hunted on the official Star Wars website here: https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-squadrons-hunted

Star Wars: Squadrons launches on 2 October 2020, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and on PC via the Origin, Steam, and Epic stores.

The official trailer for The Mandalorian season 2 has been released ahead of the new debut of the new series on 30 October.

The new series promises new adventures across the Star Wars galaxy as Pedro Padcal's Mando searches for clues to return The Child with his own kind.

The Mandalorian season 2 hits Disney+ on 30 October 2020.

Last year The Mandalorian helped push Star Wars to a new audience on the Disney+ steaming platform, and the service has finally revealed that the premiere date for the highly anticipated second series will be 30 October 2020.

The previous series ended with Mando escaping from the clutches of the Empire with a promise to safeguard The Child, affectionately known to fans as Baby Yoda.

Little is known about the second series, but part of the story arc is expected to revolve around the legendary Darksaber, which somehow ended up in the hands of Moff Gideon. It has also been rumoured that Temuera Morrison, who portrayed the bounty hunter Jango Fett in the prequels may make a cameo appearance as his cloned "son", the long time fan favourite Boba Fett who first introduced us to Mandalorian armour in the Star Wars Holiday Special and The Empire Strikes Back.

Kessel Run Podcast has announced that Solo: A Star Wars Story's Donald Glover is to reprise the role of Lando Calrissian for a new Disney+ series.

The rumour, which has not been confirmed but Disney or Lucasfilm, puts Lando as the lead character and mentions a possible title for the series being the Calrissian Chronicles, which are also referenced in-universe as Lando's self-narrated record of his adventures.

During Solo we briefly see Lando dropping references to the former Star Wars expanded universe novels by L Neil Smith, which were grouped under the Lando Calrissian Adventures banner and would be an ideal source for any adventure series featuring Lando.

So, will we be seeing Lando Calrissian visit the Starcave of ThonBoka? Perhaps, but the system of Oseon and the Mindharp of Sharu have already been absorbed into canon so it's entirely feasible that we could see these adventures realised in a Disney+ series.

The series may even be the unknown series announced on Star Wars Day earlier this year, which was said at the time to be lead by Leslye Headland who previously co-created the Netflix drama-comedy series Russian Doll.

We will watch this rumour with great interest.

Lucasfilm has today announced a new Star Wars animated series for the Disney+ 2021 lineup.

According to Lucasfilm, the new series entitled Star Wars: The Bad Batch will be a spin-off of the critically acclaimed animated show Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and will follow the eponymous Bad Batch of clones in the aftermath of the Clone Wars. The Bad Batch were introduced in the final season of The Clone Wars, which premiered on Disney+ earlier this year.

The Bad Batch were a squad of experimental clones with very different training from their fellow clonetrooper comrades, who turn to the mercenary life after the end of the Clone Wars. 

The show will be executive produced by a host of Star Wars alumni including Dave Filoni (The Mandalorian, The Clone Wars), Athena Portillo (The Clone Wars, Rebels), Brad Rau (Rebels, Resistance) and Jennifer Corbett (Resistance). Carrie Beck (The Mandalorian, Rebels) will also serve as co-executive producer, with Josh Rimes (Restistance) joining as a producer.

You can read the official announcement here.

The trailer for their next Star Wars video game, Star Wars: Squadrons, has been revealed today.

Developed by Motive Studios and published by EA, Squadrons is a starship combat sim set after the events of Return of the Jedi, during a period where the Empire is still a credible threat to the fledgling New Republic.

The game features a singleplayer story mode for both factions, as well as a 5v5 multiplayer dogfight mode. According to the details revealed so far the game will allow you to customise your pilots for the Republic's Vanguard Squadron and the Empire's Titan Squadron, and will feature original characters along with cameos from characters we are already familiar with.

Further information and footage is expected to be revealed at the EA Play event on 18 June.

Star Wars: Squadrons is set for release on 2nd October 2020, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and on PC via the Origin, Steam, and Epic stores.

The chances are that this has already been spoiled for you, but in case you are at least trying to avoid spoilers for The Mandalorian season 2, this is your last warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Sources have revealed to Hollywood Reporter that an iconic character will return to our screens in the second season of the lauded Disney+ Star Wars TV show, and it's one that may have already been teased to us in season 1.

At the end of episode 5 "The Gunslinger", we briefly see a mysterious figure approach the body of Fennec Shand, who was dispatched by the wannabe bounty hunter Toro Calican, but we never see who this character actually was. It's reasonable to assume that this was Moff Gideon hot on the trail of Mando and the Child, but it could just as easily have been another bounty hunter. Wearing distinctive spurs which can be heard in the character's previous appearance in The Empire Strikes Back, could this mystery figure have been none other than Boba Fett?

Well, this casting leak seems to lend more weight to this take on the scene, as it has been reported that Temuera Morrison will be donning Mandalorian armour once more. Morrison previously played the bounty hunter Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones, so it makes perfect sense that he would return to play his own clone "son" Boba.

But wait, isn't Boba Fett dead? Well, that's complicated. Boba Fett first appeared in the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, but most people remember him from his big screen debut in The Empire Strikes Back. In Return of the Jedi Fett was rather disappointingly killed off during the fight on Tatooine, and while various books and comics showed that he had survived his fall into the Sarlacc Pit they have all been decanonised in the Disney era. The Mandalorian season 1 takes place 5 years after the Return of the Jedi, and episode 5 took place on Tatooine - coincidence? 

To celebrate Star Wars Day 2020, Respawn Entertainment and EA Games have released a free content update for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The update is available now and contains several new features that have been borne from player feedback and add extra replayability to the game.

The major new combat feature is called Meditation Training, where Cal can visit any meditation point to battle waves of enemies in a Combat Challenge or use the Battle Grid to design custom encounters featuring any enemy or bosses.

Another much requested feature which has finally arrived is the New Journey + mode, allowing you to restart the story but keeping your collectables. So, no more getting sidetracked hunting for those pesky ponchos! Although skills will need to be earned as your new journey progresses you will still keep your unlocked lightsaber parts, so at least you can slice through the Imperial scum in style.

Among the new collectables added to the game are new skins for BD-1 and Cal, new lightsaber hilts, and the oft requested red kyber crystal. Some of these are only available through the New Journey + mode, though, so you'll need to have completed the game once already to make use of them.

For more information, check out the official announcement and release notes.

The award-winning virtual reality experience from ILMxLAB Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series is coming to PlayStation VR this summer, it has been revealed. The three part experience is classed as official Star Wars canon and will be available as one single purchase. 

Vader Immortal has links to classic multimedia project Shadows of the Empire and takes us back to Vader's castle on Mustafar, enabling you to get up close and personal with the Dark Lord of the Sith himself. 

You can check out the trailer for the original VR experience below: