Posted Fri Apr 25, 2014 at 02:45 PM PDT by Brian Hoss
Expanded Universe getting set aside for a new interconnected future.
In an announcement that will impact much more than just the games, the past 35 years of 'Star Wars,' which has featured a clear delineation between the canon (the six films and the recent 'Clone Wars' content) and what has been known as the Expanded Universe, ends now.
From Lucasfilm, "Now, with an exciting future filled with new cinematic installments of Star Wars, all aspects of Star Wars storytelling moving forward will be connected. Under Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's direction, the company for the first time ever has formed a story group to oversee and coordinate all Star Wars creative development."
"'We have an unprecedented slate of new Star Wars entertainment on the horizon,' said Kennedy. 'We're set to bring Star Wars back to the big screen, and continue the adventure through games, books, comics, and new formats that are just emerging. This future of interconnected storytelling will allow fans to explore this galaxy in deeper ways than ever before.'"
"In order to give maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience, Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe. 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. For example, elements of the EU are included in Star Wars Rebels. The Inquisitor, the Imperial Security Bureau, and Sienar Fleet Systems are story elements in the new animated series, and all these ideas find their origins in roleplaying game material published in the 1980s."
"On the screen, the first new canon to appear will be Star Wars Rebels. In print, the first new books to come from this creative collaboration include novels from Del Rey Books. First to be announced, John Jackson Miller is writing a novel that precedes the events of Star Wars Rebels and offers insight into a key character's backstory, with input directly from executive producers Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg, and Greg Weisman."
"And this is just the beginning of a creatively aligned program of Star Wars storytelling created by the collaboration of incredibly talented people united by their love of that galaxy far, far away...."
This change will of course have a big impact the Visceral Games 'Star Wars' game, and that game in turn it seems will be considered canon under the new 'Star Wars' regime.
Source: Lucasfilm
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