Star Wars: Embers Of The Empire Finally Takes Gamers Back To The Legends Timeline

2 days ago 4

Published May 6, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT

Ben Brosofsky has been writing for Screen Rant since 2022 and editing since 2024. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor's in Cinema & Media Arts. Writing serves as a much-needed distraction from tackling a backlog of Steam games that will never be surmounted.

The Star Wars universe has a long history of storytelling outside the films, but the majority of these supplementary narratives were resigned to the Legends canon after Disney took the reins of the franchise. Even in 2026, though, there are occasional treats for staunch fans of the Legends era.

In some cases, this comes from Disney officially acknowledging works of the past or bringing beloved characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn into the modern canon. Much of the time, though, the most substantial Legends works of today come courtesy of the prolific Star Wars fanbase, as is the case for an exciting new game project.

Asteroid belt in Star Wars Embers of the Empire

Courtesy of the Embers Dev Team on ModDB, Embers of the Empire is a new mod for Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance, a space simulation game from 1999 that maintains an active community today. Released on May 6, Embers of the Empire follows up the story of Timothy Zahn's Hand of Thrawn duology, some of the most iconic Star Wars books ever written.

Embers of the Empire tells the story of a new character called Janz Gaaland, a conscript from the Outer Rim planet of Tarshoon "thrust into the ranks of the battered Imperial Regiment." The mod adds 14 new battles to X-Wing Alliance, along with reworked ships and stations and an "in-universe email system" used to build up the mod's story. It's the result of years of development, with Embers Dev Team thanking "everyone who followed the project, gave feedback, tested missions, or simply kept interest alive throughout development" for making the mod possible.

It's no surprise to see Star Wars games like Battlefront 2 continue to receive major mods, but Embers of the Empire is a nice reminder of how widespread the Star Wars modding community is. It's also proof that Legends stories will live as long as fans want them too, which, considering the long memory and general stubbornness of Star Wars fans, might very well be forever.

On the official front, Star Wars fans still have the tactical Zero Company and high-speed Galactic Racer to look forward to this year, along with projects like Fate of the Old Republic in the distant future. The Star Wars video game scene may have slowed down since the initial closure of LucasArts, but in spite of some unfortunate delays and cancellations, there's still plenty on the horizon for Star Wars fans who can bear the wait.