Hi folks,
Keith Kanneg here, Executive Producer on The Old Republic. As we wrap up 2025, I want to reflect on all of the great things we did this year and of course, as I talked about on our last livestream, I am to also here tell you the exciting things we have lined up in 2026!
Tomorrow will mark our 14 year anniversary and it has been an exciting year for us.
We kicked off the year in March with Game Update 7.6.1 “Rising Powers” featuring a new Galactic Season, which included new B3-A1 customizations, more Dynamic Encounter Achievements to earn, and introduced new Czerka tech from Kai Zykken which was totally, entirely safe.
As we moved into Spring we launched Game Update 7.7 “Dynamic Worlds” where we greatly expanded the reach of Dynamic Encounters across the galaxy! Adding them to Tython, Korriban, Hutta, Ord Mantell, Coruscant, Dromund Kaas, and Ilum. This Game Update also came with a host of other content and systems including Master Mode of Relentless Replicator, the launch of the Eras window to help players keep track of their progress in the game’s story, multiple Quality of Life updates to our Mission Log and World Map, PvP Season 8, and expansion of our character customization options!
Onto the Summer we launched Game Update 7.7.1 “Flashpoint Resurgence”. Galactic Season 9 sent players into Flashpoints with a new suite of Kai Zykken’s Czerka tech along with a host of Activity Finder improvements. We also made a variety of targeted improvements to our Free-to-Play experience and continued our efforts with modernizing the game, updating the character select screen and releasing even more character customizations as well.
Last up, our holiday update, 7.8 “Pursuit of Ruin” was a really great way to close out the year! Right up top, we brought you the long-awaited continuation of our storyline with “Galactic Threads”. Additionally, players were sent to the Wreckage on Dantooine, a completely new zone dedicated to Dynamic Encounters and full of rewards to earn including your own Stronghold on Dantooine. This update also marks the beginning of PvP Season 9 and, as we enter the holiday season, the return of Life Day and our Anniversary Event!
What an exciting year to look back on! As we look forward, I wanted to touch on our migration to DirectX 12 and provide you with why we’re making this change along with the current status:
The goal of the DX12 conversion is to enable us to add new visual features to the game. Once we reach current feature parity, we’ll retire DX9 and continue forward with DX12. After that, we’ll begin to add new features to enhance the game, improve performance, and enable us to take advantage of future graphical features. Here’s a quick update:
- In our test environment, SWTOR is playable in DirectX 12.
- The game is mostly functional using DX12 except for some advanced rendering features. But, the UI isn’t working properly yet, which is why we can’t make it available to test yet.
- Since the migration to DX12 requires extensive (and deep) changes, we can’t give a solid timeframe for making it available to test. The good news is we are getting closer and will keep you updated on our progress.
That isn’t everything that happened this year, but after all, this is just a recap! And of course, I know you are all eager to hear about the next step in this journey – what is coming in 2026.
The 2026 Roadmap
My plan here for the 2026 roadmap is to list out what you can expect from a high level in each release!
Galactic Threads marks a turning point in our story and it begins the march to the finale of the Legacy of the Sith storyline. That’s right, I said the finale! I probably have your attention now, so let’s jump into the major features for the next few game updates.
Game Update 7.8.1 – Master’s Enigma
Late Winter
- Master’s Enigma Storyline
- Galactic Season 10
- Two Date Night Missions
As you can see, we are doing something a bit different with this “.1” update! We are releasing the next part of our story, Master’s Enigma, and players will get to participate in our next Galactic Season. This season will work a little differently than previous seasons so stay tuned for our next live stream for details, along with insight about the two Date Nights featuring Torian and Kira!
Game Update 7.9 – Legacy Reborn
Spring
- Legacy Reborn Storyline
- PvP Season 10
As the Legacy of the Sith story reaches its finale in 7.9: Legacy Reborn, we’ll be introducing the next story Era just around the corner! Without giving too many spoilers, you can expect quite the shake-up across the galaxy. We’ll give more details about the next Era in 2026.
Game Update 7.9.1
Summer
We’ll talk about Galactic Season 11 during the next Livestream when we discuss Galactic Season 10 as both will follow a similar path.
You may be asking “why does this update only have one feature” or “what are they going to do now that Legacy of the Sith has concluded?”
Well for anyone keeping track, 2026 will be our 15 year anniversary! That means…
15 Year Anniversary Update
This is an incredibly thrilling milestone and with it will come many questions, I am sure. First things first, stay tuned for our 7.8.1 livestream in February. We will cover what you can look forward to in 2026 AND share the first details about what to expect as we celebrate 15 years of SWTOR with 8.0!
It is important to know that throughout the year, we will be both releasing new content and simultaneously working on development of our Anniversary Update. We look forward to sharing details over the course of the year, which could include updates during our quarterly livestreams, hosting 8.0 specific livestreams, public tests, emails, articles, and more. There is a lot to talk about, so make sure you join us for the ride!
Thank you all, happy 14th anniversary to SWTOR, and we look forward to seeing you in 2026!
-Keith
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