When Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, almost immediately the company announced plans for a brand new Star Wars trilogy that would begin in 2015 with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as well as a series of spin-off films which would be released in the years between numbered entries. Licensed content or not, Disney wanted a completely fresh start for the future of Star Wars, later announcing that the existing expanded universe would no longer be considered as "canon," removing everything outside of the six core films and the animated series, including the ongoing Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO which still runs to this day.
Since the acquisition, Disney has released the entire Star Wars sequel trilogy, two spin-off films, multiple new TV shows including Star Wars: Rebels and The Mandalorian, books, comics, and a handful of video games under a licensing deal with EA. Unlike the 2015 reboot, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 featured a full single-player campaign with an original story set after the destruction of the second Death Star. While we know that Disney produced content is all part of the new canon, does that expand to video games and is Star Wars: Battlefront 2 canon? Yes, and no.
EA's Star Wars Licensing Deal
Six months after Disney acquired Lucasfilm, the majority of staff at Lucasarts had been laid off and a new licensing deal had been signed with video game publisher, Electronic Arts. Described as "a new multi-year exclusive licensing agreement," EA managed to obtain the exclusive publishing rights to the Star Wars license in the video game space while Disney would retain rights to develop games across mobile device and "online game categories." Since the beginning of the licensing agreement, EA has released a total of four original games including Star Wars: Battlefront (2015), Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, Star Wars: Battlefront 2, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and multiple expansions for Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO.
Which Star Wars Games Are Canon?
When it comes to story content, video games are treated the same as all of Disney's Star Wars produced content and are officially considered as canon. The reboot of Star Wars: Battlefront didn't include a single-player campaign, but it's multiplayer was still considered canon and tied into the sequel trilogy with content from both The Force Awakens and Rogue One. Likewise, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order original story and characters are also considered as part of official Star Wars canon. On the other hand, Star Wars: The Old Republic was released prior to the acquisition and is not considered canon despite its continued support and expansions, and Galaxy of Heroes is generally not considered canon due to the nature of the game (although Disney and EA have never officially confirmed either way).
Is Star Wars: Battlefront 2 Canon?
Unlike the reboot, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 included a full single-player campaign written by Spec Ops: The Line's Walt William's and Mitch Dyer, and developed by Motive Studios. Set in the immediate moments after the destruction of the second Death Star and the death of Emperor Palpatine, Star Wars: Battlefront 2's campaign aimed to tell an untold story of the Empire and follows brand a new character Iden Versio, commander of an elite Imperial special forces unit known as Inferno Squad. Featuring fifteen missions in total including the post-release Resurrection campaign, the campaign missions alternate between Iden Versio and hero characters including Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and Kylo Ren.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2's campaign is considered part of Star Wars canon, including Iden Versio, Inferno Squad, and Luke's thrilling adventure's killing swarms of bugs. However, also unlike the reboot, the multiplayer is not considered canon this time around. While Star Wars: Battlefront (2015) tried to play things safe, Battlefront 2 features all three Star Wars trilogies and lets players live out their Star Wars fantasy regardless of whether it fits into canon or not. Sure, a number of modes will limit certain hero characters to specific eras but game modes like Heroes and Villains or Galactic Assault throw out the rules and allow for Darth Vader and Kylo Ren to fight side by side against Obi-Wan Kenobi and Rey.
While Star Wars: Battlefront 2 launch controversies turned a lot of players away from the game, EA and DICE have continuously updated the game with new content for the past two years and fixed all of the major issues that players had with the game. PS Plus members are able to pick up the game for free for the month of June with their monthly membership and will have access to the full game for the duration of their subscription. Right now is a pretty good time to jump back into the game.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.