The Star Wars franchise has delivered some of the most vivid settings in cinema history, from the two-mooned sunsets of Tatooine to Endor’s dense forests. The multitude of planets, each with its own intricate species, climate and culture, is what makes George Lucas’ story so unique – and so suitable for an endless number of Star Wars games.
Clustered around the galaxy’s key trading routes and vast regions of space, Star Wars’ many hundreds of planets provide ample opportunity for storytelling in the gaming world. EA’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars: Battlefront series have used multiple compelling environments from the hit movies and TV shows, including Cal Kestis’ journey to Kashyyk. And with an ever-expanding list of planets, choosing the perfect setting could be crucial to the development and popularity of future Star Wars games.
10 Coruscant
Home to landmarks like the Jedi Temple and Senate Building, Coruscant is at the very center of the Star Wars galaxy – both figuratively and literally. Located in the Core Worlds region, the city-planet was historically the galaxy’s political hub, however this bustling cosmopolis later became entangled with conflict during the Clone Wars.
Below Coruscant’s surface lies a lawless underworld, which has been the subject of numerous curtailed or rumored plans for Star Wars video games. The gritty basement of the galaxy’s capitol planet would be an ideal setting for an open world game, with scum and villainy aplenty. Ahsoka Tano ventured down into the Coruscant underworld in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV show.
9 Exegol
The planet Exegol was introduced in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as a secret Sith world, concealing the long-standing evil schemes of Darth Sidious. Exegol’s surface is largely uncharted, with the only known structure being the ancient Sith Citadel which housed Palpatine’s cultists and vast starfleet in Episode IX.
In the comic series Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vader tracked down Exegol years prior to its discovery by the Resistance. His quest, and subsequent journey through the many haunting, dark mysteries of Sidious’ work on Exegol, would make for a thrilling horror game narrative.
8 Mandalore
As the name would suggest, Mandalore is the home planet of Mandalorian warriors in the Star Wars universe – including Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin character from the hit TV show The Mandalorian, who was raised on the planet from a young age. As well as developing some of the galaxy’s most feared combatants, Mandalore has been the site of significant conflict for much of its history.
Many fans of EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront II have called for the Outer Rim world to be included in the game, as key concluding battles of the Clone Wars took place on Mandalore. In addition, the planet’s association with the Mandalorian Wars of 3976 BBY to 3960 BBY offers potential for a story-driven conquest game which could re-introduce legendary characters like Revan and Malak.
7 Mustafar
Best known for its appearance in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and the duel between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mustafar actually has a much deeper story within Star Wars lore. It is one of the most renowned Sith planets, providing a base of operations for the Separatist Council, Darth Sidious and later Darth Vader.
Although fans of the prequel trilogy would clamor for a video game recreation of the famed battle between Skywalker and Kenobi, Mustafar could be an equally great setting for a sequel era game. Kylo Ren travelled to the extreme volcanic world to acquire Vader’s Sith wayfinder, which proved to be an influential object in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. His discovery of his grandfather’s secrets, as well as battling Sith guards at Fortress Vader, would provide greater detail on a central theme of the sequel trilogy and one of its most maligned characters in Kylo Ren.
6 Korriban/Moraband
The birthplace of the Sith, Korriban is a planet in the Outer Rim regions of the Star Wars galaxy. Later referred to as Moraband during the Clone Wars era, this dark, torched planet is best known for its appearance in the cult favorite video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
A new game set on the historic world of Korriban could explore the stories behind some of the most legendary Sith Lords in Star Wars, many of whom were laid to rest in Korriban’s aptly named Valley of the Dark Lords.
5 Christophsis
Featured in Star Wars: The Clone Wars on the cinema screen and the series, Christophsis’ stunning landscape could be recreated in great detail for gaming platforms if a Clone Wars game was ever made. The Galactic Republic waged two epic battles against the Confederacy of Independent Systems on Christophsis’ surface, winning both.
With the huge fanfare for productions like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: The Bad Batch, many Star Wars gamers would appreciate the opportunity to engage in warfare on the planet Christophsis. Squad-based clone trooper combat on Christophsis, similar to that of the 2005 game Star Wars: Republic Commando, would be a welcome addition to EA’s recent Star Wars gaming collection.
4 Lothal
One of the most underrated Star Wars shows is Star Wars: Rebels, the animated series which premiered on Disney XD almost a decade ago. It follows the journey of a small band of rebels, who encounter classic Star Wars villains like Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Emperor Palpatine along the way.
The group’s story started on the planet Lothal in the Outer Rim, when future Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger stumbled upon the rebels. The planet’s association with Star Wars: Rebels could provide Lucasfilm with the perfect opportunity to develop Ezra’s story beyond the TV show into a video game.
3 Serenno
A world mostly aligned with the dark side of the force, Serenno was Count Dooku’s home planet and headquarters during the Clone Wars. It was to this planet that he fled from the Jedi Order, communicated with Darth Sidious and established his Separatist alliance.
As demonstrated by Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, Dooku remains one of the most popular characters of the prequel era. The picturesque, Earth-like setting of Serenno could thus be the ideal location to focus a Star Wars game on, further expanding upon Dooku’s rejection of the Jedi and his later battles with Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos at his castle on Serenno.
2 Tatooine
Easily the most recognizable, most renowned planet in the Star Wars universe, Tatooine was recently used as a location for the critically acclaimed TV show Star Wars: The Mandalorian. The desert planet, famously dubbed a “wretched hive of scum and villainy” by Obi-Wan Kenobi, would be an immediate hit on game consoles if a game following The Mandalorian’s travels ever came about.
Playing as ‘Mando’, Star Wars gamers would be eager to navigate Tatooine’s scum and villainy in the post-Empire epoch. Just as the series arguably uses a Western theme, the game could emulate titles like Red Dead Redemption with Din Djarin as the protagonist.
1 Dathomir
Dathomir, an Outer Rim world steeped in darkness, witchcraft and death, is the obvious choice for a Star Wars video game with Darth Maul as its title character. The Sith Lord, played by Ray Park in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, was a Dathomirian native of the planet’s Zabrak species.
While Maul has appeared in several Star Wars TV shows, his story of defeat and revenge is timeless. On Dathomir, he plotted revenge on Obi-Wan Kenobi and constructed his criminal empire during the final years of the Clone Wars. A new Star Wars video game could allow players to step into Maul’s shoes as leader of the Shadow Collective, exploring the brutal world of criminality in the galaxy with Dathomir as its fatherland.