Would you still buy a Triple A SW game even if it's not canon?

That really depends. There are a lot of varying factors in this, such as story, era, etc. But even if I don't play it, I think throwing the Legends fan a bone would be nice.

 

Canon is one the last things I'd worry about when making a game.
I'd probably like the game more if it weren't because then they'd be able to actually get more creative with it.

Imagine if the Battlefront 2 campaign didn't have to worry about a rigid canon. I think it's already pretty solid but if they could have really opened up with it some, it could have been great

Especially for an RPG. Screw canon. Let me be creative and create my own canon for the game.

 

FWIW, I'd take a look at how recent Assassin's Creed treats canon- one of the few series whose fans are arguably more obsessed with the subject than even Star Wars fans are (and obviously it's Ubisoft as well).

Basically, there are few things you cannot do that wouldn't be canon in an AC game runthrough, even with RPG choices. I'll list the following in spoilers, for Odyssey and Valhalla:

Spoiler: Odyssey Spoilers

In both, it's really about the protagonists. In Odyssey, the protagonist is Kassandra as the Eagle Bearer, while Alexios is "Deimos". You can play the other way around and that's fine, but in the greater canon of Assassin's Creed it's assumed that Kassandra was the EB. Remember after all, the general conceit of AC is that it takes place in "real" history, so there has to be some sort of benchmark standard.

Spoiler: Major Valhalla Spoilers

In Valhalla, you can choose between a male or female Eivor. However, this actually represents the fact that Eivor was a woman, while the male version is actually Havi, an Isu that lived long ago and eventually was reincarnated into the female Eivor. The game cleverly takes advantage of the fact that the Animus is based on reading genetic information, so could arguably have accidentally pallate-swapped Havi for Eivor... but Eivor is indeed female.

Other than that, the Animus is also used to abstract some particularly uncanon-like objects into the game- such as the "glitches" in Origins that allowed you to fight giant gods.

As far as other choices go, I think Assassin's Creed takes the assumption that history is shrouded in mystery and either could arguably have been canon. This is wise, but it does limit the type of choices that can be made. For instance, Kassandra might choose to save a civilian instead of robbing them, or could choose whether or not to romance a particular NPC. But it's not like she's directly choosing whether or not the Athenians win or lose the war against Sparta- that outcome is written into history already.

Though honestly, none of this is all that different from how KOTOR was treated.

For instance, KOTOR II's Exile was a woman canonically. KOTOR's "sith" ending, while radically galaxy-shifting) is not canonical.

One thing that has been discussed in AC, and I think would benefit here too, is the idea of a more guided "canon" setting. That is, a way to disable the choices in game that would contradict canon, allowing players to not accidentally deviate from what they might read on the wiki later. Personally, I think that's a fantastic resource that players could use.

 

I would definitely like to think canon would be involved in a Triple A title Star Wars game. But the fact Ubisoft has taken on the role of an open world design is so so promising. Obviously Assassins Creed is a no brainer for open world atmosphere even if the story is lacking but look at Black Flag ‍☠️........Amazing open world!! So if the right people are on the job and the love and commitment is there for Star Wars then it will be incredible !! Even if canon is not involved

 

Of course, the best Star Wars games aren't canon

 

Once again that word “canon” infiltrates our SW dialog....

 

I loved the Occulus VR Darth Vader: Immortal series. I found out months after I played through the series that the games are canon.

Guess what? That revelation had zero effect on my enjoyment of the series.

It's a marketing ploy designed to make the seem more authentic to those considering buying it. I don't imagine we'll ever encounter a future Star Wars movie or television series that won't make sense if the viewer hasn't played the game.

 

yes, if its good. Actually, yes, if its star wars

 

I think it doesn´t makes absolutely any sense to develop non canon products since the new canon was established. We have now a very cohesive canon (although not perfect) and I see no reasons for split it since I consider that the achievement of this canon has been one of the best accomplishments in the franchise so far.

Some can argue that constraining the game lore and story to canon could imply creative limitations to the writers, and that´s is very true, but I think Star Wars needs more than never to get out of episodes I-IX timeline and explore other eras. For instance I could point a reboot of KOTOR on PS5 XSX, recanonizacing that era, a High Republic videogame (which I really expect) or post TROS content. We could widely amplify canon and writers would have total freedom to write lore and script. The galaxy has millennia and canon only depicts less than 70 years ( Almost 270 if we account High Republic, but there is plenty of gap between it and episode I to place content)

 

Aren't games non-canon per se. They might play in a canon setting. But if I play a game and mess up and Yavin is blown up by the DS, that doesn't make it canon.

 

Yes considering i never considered video games were canon in the first place.

 

Remake of the decade... its not canon... give it to me anyway!

 

Has the remake been stated as non-canon? I haven´t seen any statement about that. In the official site they have said that the original one was part of Legends, not the remake...

 

Yes,

I undertand the same so far. Considering the huge lapse of time between KOTOR and the first canon (High Republic), I think there is no need of big changes to fit into canon.

 

Yes, there are soft canon references:

In TROS one of the sith fleets is named Revan Legion

In High Republic books they mention more than once an ancient war between sith and jedi

In clone wars and Mandalorian is pointed that jedi and mandalorians don´t get along, supposedly due to the ancient mandalorian wars between them.

Player choice mechanics could be solved, as in other similar videogames, by stating one ending as canonicallly valid.

So I consider that KOTOR is one of the most adaptable non-canon EU materials into canon. This besides would allow Lucasfilm to develop TV shows for D+, comcis, books, other videogames or even big movies for theaters (this would be awesome) settled in OR.

 

Someone still remembers the Exile....

 

They can always do the Assassins Creed approach and have one ending the "true canon" ending and the other one isn't. Like in Assassins Creed Odyssey, you can play as Alexios or Kassandra but the true canon is using Kassandra. Also I believe in KOTOR the light side ending was the canon ending