Moving back to the cinematic side of the Star Wars franchise, so far Disney have released four Star Wars movies since 2015 – that’s one each year – and for many the Star Wars ‘burnout’ is a pressing problem. This obvious drain on the ‘soul’ of Star Wars may seem ironic considering George Lucas has always treated the franchise as a mass-marketable cash-cow, but something about the apparent lack of respect for the franchise, its history, and the great games that came before have had many fans up in arms demanding that EA lose their exclusive rights to make Star Wars games to allow other, more passion-driven developers to take the helm.

Microtransactions, a system that essentially amounts to luck-based gambling with real money in video games that was introduced to mobile games but has since spread to all corners of the gaming world, were one of the main issues with the new EA Star Wars games – gone are the days of open sandboxes, diverse heroes and characters and dozens of playable maps, now much of the content in EA’s Star Wars games are locked behind paywalls. Yet the issue remains – Disney’s Star Wars is controversial among fans, and it cannot be denied that specific aspects of the brand such the Star Wars video games have suffered a decline in quality under Disney’s rule – or rather, EA’s rule, since Disney licensed Star Wars games exclusively to the controversial publisher – with titles like the new Star Wars: Battlefront and it’s sequel being poorly received due to EA’s blatant attempts at money-grabbing. Regardless of how one might feel towards The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, Star Wars has always inspired children and the new films have continued to do just that, meaning that their existence can never be truly written off as a waste of time and effort despite negative fan reaction to the more recent Disney Star Wars products. Secondly, the new story that Disney has written is just that – a story. The question remains – was all of this loss from the vast and diverse Star Wars canon worth it for what Disney has given us since?īefore we answer that question, it is important to note two things – first, anyone who wishes can still experience Star Wars Legends in all its glory, as the rebranding of the original canon into Legends has been accompanied with re-releases of the novels featuring the ‘Legends’ brand, and Disney have no desire to wipe the original canon of Star Wars from the face of the planet as many of the old comics and games are still available to buy at retailers. Gone are fan favourites like Kyle Katarn, Mara Jade Skywalker, and Jacen and Jaina Solo, and even some characters from the expanded universe that had nothing to do with the post-ROTJ era at all, such as Darth Revan and Bastila Shan from the KOTOR series.

Since the eradication of the original Legends canon, the new lore that Disney has introduced has seen the entire plot of the post- Return of the Jedi era of Star Wars reworked from a hopeful and steady continuation of the adventures of Luke, Han and Leia to a tragic dissolution of the Jedi Order, the New Republic and the marriage between Han and Leia – a decision that has definitely rubbed many fans the wrong way. Whilst there were and are many Star Wars fans who will defend the film and the direction that Disney is taking the franchise, it is now undeniable that Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm will go down as one of the most controversial events in the history of modern science fiction. Following the release of Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, the Star Wars fanbase fractured as many fans labelled this film the worst that the franchise had ever seen.

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