After all, it doesn’t have a story mode…
Star Wars Battlefront has finally dropped, and while it’s had some controversy attached to it there’s no denying it has some incredibly fun moments. The graphics and attention to detail in depicting the Star Wars universe are astounding, from the lowliest grunts to the most majestic star destroyers. But with all that detail, people can’t help but ask a pretty big question:
Is Star Wars Battlefront canon?
Well… is it?
The answer is “yes and no.”
You’re going to have to elaborate.
The events themselves depicted in the game are not canon. They can’t be. The game, for all intents and purposes, is a sandbox for you and your friends to play in. The game gives you the locations, vehicles, and characters from the original trilogy and the players do the rest.
You’re allowed to have Han Solo fight the Emperor on Tatooine, which obviously never happened in the films, so we think it’s safe to say that any scenarios or events depicted in the gameplay are inspired by canon rather than actually contributing to it.
So… what is canon about the game?
As we said, the game gives you elements of canon to play around with. That means those elements are canon.
Does the game actually contribute anything to canon?
It does! We wouldn’t be surprised if some of the weapons the game introduces could show up in films or TV shows, but its biggest contributions come in the form of its locations. For example, Battlefront has thus far the only on screen depiction of Sullust in the current canon. Given the latest policies of Lucasfilm, every on screen appearance of Sullust from here on out will have to adhere to the game’s audio and visual portrayal of the Sullustan’s homeworld.
Anything else?
Not in the current game, but the upcoming Battle of Jakku DLC will provide the first on screen portrayal of the fabled Battle of Jakku which featured a major turning point in the conflict between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant a year after the Battle of Endor. While we’ll see the aftermath of the battle in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Battlefront will show us how the battle looked when it actually went down.
We’re sure later DLC will provide new maps that will hopefully provide the canon appearances for several other planets, ships, and equipment. We’ll have to wait and see what’s announced.
