Keith Kanneg, SWTOR’s Executive Producer, published his Q2 2026 Executive Producer Letter. In it, he recaps the recent updates and confirms the studio’s full focus on 8.0 and the 15th anniversary of the game.
Why Producer Letters Matter
SWTOR’s Producer Letters may seem pointless to regular players. They contain mostly a recap of old news, but they are valuable for returning or new players who haven’t been around all this time.
The letters stand out because the information is provided by the person in charge of everyone else and presented in a way that’s digestible to new and more casual players who aren’t deeply involved with the current state of the game.
Over time, these producer letters build up as a public record, one that is a lot easier to read than the patch notes if you’re trying to get a sense of the history of the game or what content was released while an individual was confirmed to be working on SWTOR.
What happened in Q2 2026
As usual, we will follow Keith’s letter structure and mark the key new features the developers are most proud of.
Short Story
Shortly before the launch of 7.9, Broadsword released a short story that gives us a glimpse of the moments right before the first cinematic from the new mission.
The Last Road to Khar Shian is a good read. It will not add any significant details to the plot, but will prepare you at least a little bit for the mini surprise you will see in the first cinematic.
Update 7.9
The finale of Legacy of the Sith was titled “Legacy Reborn” and arrived together with Update 7.9 in the beginning of June.
This was the third consecutive game update that delivered main story content as a result of the massive schedule delays caused by the actors’ strike. Broadsword managed to catch up almost completely.
The major missing feature from the last storylines are the French and German voice overs. Broadsword is still negotiating with the agencies, and there is no clear indication of when those will be available. The most recent stories in SWTOR are only available in English voice. German and French subtitles are available too.
Apart from the Legacy Reborn storyline, update 7.9 also launched PvP Season 10, split the Wreckage on Dantooine mission and updated Dantooine Dynamic Encounters, reworked the Companion Locator Terminal, added new Cartel Market Items and fixed a number of bugs.
What’s next for SWTOR
It’s Keith’s tradition not to reveal a lot in this segment. Considering the devs’ focus is almost entirely on the next expansion (referred to simply as “8.0”), which is still months away, we don’t have a lot of exciting reveals just yet.
PTS for 8.0 is coming
We still have one more game update, 7.9.1, coming before the 8.0 era kicks in. There is no date for 7.9.1 and the expectations are for 8.0 to launch in very late November or early December. These are based on hints, nothing is announced or confirmed yet.
PTS for 8.0 is coming “in the coming weeks”. Here is what this first phase will include:
- New Operation Testing: The first boss of the new Operation (which will feature 3 bosses in total when complete) will be available.
- Level 85 Cap Unlock: Sentinel, Vanguard, Sage, and their Imperial mirrors will have their next level cap unlocked for testing.
The devs anticipate “months-long cycles“, which will give enough time for us, the players, to provide feedback and for them to implement it.
We will get a closer look at some of the new features from 8.0 at the next Developer Livestream, but there is no date announced for it yet. Keith just stated that it’s “coming up soon”.
Nightlife
The Nightlife in-game event has just launched and for its 2026 edition, there are a couple of new decorations added to the list of things you can win from the slots on Nar Shaddaa, Mek-Sha and the VIP section on the Fleet.
Update 7.9.1
Update 7.9.1 is expected to be very light on content while devs are busy with 8.0. The only major new feature confirmed is the launch of Galactic Season 11 “Light and Shadow”.
Similar to how Galactic Season 10 brought back rewards from GS1 and GS3, Galactic Season 11 will reintroduce the rewards from GS2 and GS4 (confirmed on the 7.9 Livestream).
There will likely be a few new items available for you to earn throughout the season, just so you don’t feel like you are farming for nothing if you have already earned everything from the previous seasons.
This is Keith’s full message, as posted on swtor.com on 1st of July, 2026.
Hi folks!
Can you believe it’s July? Much has happened over the last couple months, especially with this letter being published just weeks after we launched the finale to Legacy of the Sith.
The Legacy of the Sith Finale
Since December, the team has released back to back to back story updates beginning with Game Update 7.8 “Pursuit of Ruin”, followed by 7.8.1 “Master’s Enigma” in March, and most recently in June, 7.9 “Legacy Reborn”. Everything comes to a head in “Legacy Reborn”, the finale to Legacy of the Sith!
If you’re not caught up on the story yet, you’ll want to skip down to the 15 Year Anniversary Update Check-In section below just in case!
If you have not yet read the short story “Last Road to Khar Shian”, I highly recommend it as it covers Darth Malgus and Shae Vizla’s uneasy alliance as they make way for Khar Shian.
All of the paths that have formed since 7.0 have converged on Khar Shian, and the siege upon Naga Sadow’s Hidden Fortress is where the events of Legacy Reborn takes place. And it’s quite a roller coaster of emotions! We know we left you with more to come, but we are excited so many of you realized the end of a variety of storylines while still making you wonder what’s going to happen to the Galaxy. Many of you have caught the nods to the Deceived novel that were referenced in the update and we had a great time reading the reactions to them. Of course, the most natural question to ask is “what comes next?”
15 Year Anniversary Update Check-In
Following the launch of Legacy Reborn, we are now fully focused on developing content for 8.0.
We are actively preparing for our first Public Test Server (PTS) phase. PTS is planned to kick off in the coming weeks with the first boss of the new Operation along with level 85 available for select Classes including Sentinel, Vanguard, Sage, and their Imperial mirrors.
We anticipate a months-long PTS cycle to help us gather feedback across all the new features arriving with Game Update 8.0. We are excited to share a closer look in our next developer stream, which is coming up soon! Keep an eye on our social channels and the Developer Tracker so you know exactly when we will be hosting the livestream.
What else is happening?
Nar Shaddaa Nightlife has just returned! We have added two new decorations that can be earned while the event is active. Read more information about them here!
PvP Season 10 “Honor in Battle” is well underway, and we have new armors, decorations, and flairs for players to earn.
As we head toward the end of July, Galactic Season 10 “Secrets of the Syndicate” will be drawing to a close. This season was a great opportunity to bring back some of the highly requested rewards from Seasons 1 and 3, and the clock is ticking to secure them. As we are quickly approaching Galactic Season 11, “Light and Shadow”, I would hate for you to miss out on the cool rewards so grab them now before they’re gone.
That’s it from me for now! The team is very much looking forward to showing you all more glimpses into 8.0 content. We’ll see you in the next developer stream and on the PTS!
-Keith
