Star Wars recently revealed what had previously gone under the code name Project Luminous, and as suspected, it was the announcement of the creation of a new era in the Star Wars universe called the High Republic Era. This is the next phase of Star Wars with the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga, and it will start as a big publishing effort from Lucasfilm and Disney.
There are rumors that the first major High Republic project outside of the publishing world could be a new Star Wars video game followed by a new series of films, but Lucasfilm did not reveal any of those plans and only spoke about its upcoming publishing plans, which encompasses comics and books. However, Lucasfilm did show off some cover art and concept art for the High Republic Era, which has definite Knights of the Old Republic vibes.
The Jedi at Their Prime
Just as scenes from Star Wars: The Old Republic have featured grand battles featuring dozens of Jedi fighting, the High Republic features the Jedi at their prime, exploring the galaxy and being the guardians of peace and justice that the Jedi have always been referred to as. The High Republic serves as a bridge between The Knights of the Old Republic and the era of the prequel, original, and sequel trilogies. It is set 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, which places it about 800 years after the end of The Old Republic era.
The Knights of the Old Republic and The Old Republic have featured the Jedi in a similar way, as warriors and the defenders of peace throughout the Republic. But Lucasfilm described the Jedi of the High Republic era as a kind of Knights of the Round Table from Arthurian legend as well as a sort of Texas Ranger that patrols the Wild West of the Republic, which has yet to stretch out as far as it has by the time of the prequel films.
The High Republic is Canon
In a way, this is Star Wars' first official journey back to an older time in galactic history. That's because when Disney purchased Lucasfilm, it made virtually all of the Extended Universe and games that had been made up to that point non-canon, with only the films and The Clone Wars animated series remaining canon. The Knights of the Old Republic games, The Old Republic, and everything that had defined that era was made Legends continuity, a.ka. non-canon.
While bits and pieces of Old Republic lore have appeared in canon, such as Revan's name in the Visual Dictionary for Rise of Skywalker or references to the Mandalorian Wars and the appearance of Old Republic ships in Star Wars: Rebels, the stories that have been told in the Old Republic are not wholesale canon yet. So the High Republic, with its similar visual stylings, is the first era of the past similar to the one belonging to The Knights of the Old Republic to be canon.
The Sith?
One thing that has yet to be seen is any presence of the Sith or the dark side in the High Republic era. The Old Republic told many stories of the Sith and in both that MMO and in The Knights of the Old Republic, players face off against Sith soldiers regularly. The High Republic takes place after the Rule of Two was instated by Sith Lord Darth Bane, but once again that is a non-canon story, so it will be interesting to see how Star Wars handles the dark side of the Force in the High Republic and how it will compare to the Old Republic stories.
What's Next?
It is unclear how the High Republic will connect to the Old Republic, if it ever will. The new works in publishing will introduce fans to the new High Republic Era, and could potentially be a bridge to not only more stories told within the High Republic era but also get fans more comfortable with eventually going even further back in time to the Old Republic. There were rumors that the Game of Thrones directors were possibly working on an Old Republic project before their split with Lucasfilm, and Lucasfilm has said before that it would consider going back to the era, but for now, fans should expect a lot of focus put on this new High Republic Era.