Original logo of StarWars.com from 1996
StarWars.com was launched in November 26, 1996 to help market the upcoming 1997 release of the Special Edition Star Wars Trilogy. At first, the site was quite sparse, with basic facts about the original trilogy films and printouts for kids. It was the first official movie website to post video documentaries in anticipation of a theatrical release, with the multi-part "Anatomy of a Dewback" series, released starting on August 11, 1997. Prior to that Lucasfilm did not have an official Star Wars website, instead depending on the then–Twentieth Century Fox's website.
Following the release of the Special Edition Trilogy, StarWars.com focused its attention on Episode I, providing news updates, behind-the-scenes features and the popular web documentary ("webdoc") series "Making Episode I," which was also known as "Lynne's Diaries" as installments were often introduced by Lucasfilm's Head of Public Relations, Lynne Hale. In 1998, when it first hosted the Episode I teaser trailer, StarWars.com broke download records.
After the release of Episode I, StarWars.com diversified its content to include coverage of the Expanded Universe and community activities. It adopted its multi-section model in the build-up to Episode II. During Episode II's production, StarWars.com posted weekly videos hosted by Ahmed Best from the set of production, entitled on location. It also posted a photo or image hand-picked by George Lucas every week as a "George Lucas Select." It was during this period that StarWars.com supplemented its online coverage with a biweekly newsletter, the Homing Beacon.
On June 5, 2003, Starwars.com launched an ad-free, paid-access subscription service featuring exclusive content, Hyperspace: The Official Star Wars Fan Club. On April 14, 2003, Lucasfilm entered the direct retail business for the first time with the opening of StarWarsShop.com.
In 2004, with the transfer of the Star Wars Insider license from Paizo Publishing to IDG Entertainment, the Official Fan Club ceased to be a licensed property and returned in-house to Lucasfilm, where it became part of StarWars.com Hyperspace.
Right before Episode III started principal photography, StarWars.com introduced a pay-service component to its coverage. For an annual subscription rate of $19.99, subscribers would have access to exclusive coverage, including daily Set Diaries from Australia, a live webcam broadcasting from the set, online chats, and exclusive archival content, such as the deleted Episode II scene "Jedi Attack on the Control Ship" and reprints of the original Bantha Tracks newsletter.
"Ask the Jedi Council" was a section in the official Star Wars website where selected members of the production crew answered questions raised by fans. The section was shut down in 2005 and replaced with a "Questions and Answers" section that includes all previous "Ask the Jedi Council" questions.
Following the prequel trilogy, the StarWars.com team underwent some leadership changes. The site added and removed several features including an official blog and forums, provided content on the The Clone Wars animated series, and went through various redesigns. In addition, the online store ceased centralized operations due to competition from vendors like Target and Walmart. With the advent of social media, StarWars.com also established a presence on several social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
In October 2006, StarWars.com was voted best Official Movie Site at Movies.com's first annual poll. In December 2006, the site recognized its ten-year milestone as item number 10 of its "Best of 2006." On April 30, 2007, StarWars.com introduced the Visual Guides, which ran for seven chapters before being discontinued indefinitely.
A commonly seen graphic on the 2008–2011 incarnation of StarWars.com
On July 1, 2008, StarWars.com was relaunched with a new Flash-based design. However, much of the site's content was never converted to the newer format. Fan reaction to the new site was decidedly negative, with an outpouring of complaints on message boards regarding the new look, the vast amount of missing content (something the fans paid for with their Hyperspace subscriptions but no longer had access to), and the non-user-friendly navigation.
On September 13, 2011, another massive overhaul of the website occurred, part of a wider-spanning streamlining of content. This included the discontinuation of the site forums, the end of the members-only Hyperspace, and later the closing of the site blog pages. The Databank was converted into an on-site Encyclopedia in September 2011, which included links to Wookieepedia articles for its subjects.
Following Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012, StarWars.com was redesigned and relaunched on July 1, 2014 to make it mobile friendly. The Encyclopedia was also replaced by an expanded and rebooted Databank. The first official Star Wars app was released on July 8, 2015.
StarWars.com has published a range of online, social, and video content including the weekly variety show The Star Wars Show, "TheStarWars.com 10" lists, the Star Wars Rebels wrap-up show Rebels Recon (which stopped airing when the show ended), and livestreams from the Star Wars movie premieres and the various Celebrations.
The site is divided into a number of sections, including "News + Blog," "Video + Behind the Scenes featurettes," "Star Wars Movies," "Star Wars Series," "Video Games and Immersive Entertainment," "Fans, Fans Sites, and Blogs," and the Databank.
Other former features on StarWars.com included the questions-and-answers section "Ask the Jedi Council," weekly image gallery "Communications Disruption," "Homing Beacon," "Star Wars: Blogs," and "StarWars.com Message Boards." In addition, the website contained content specific to the Star Wars saga films including "Episode I Snapshot," "Episode II Select," "Image Attack," "Art of Revenge," "Sith Snapshots," "Episode IV Classic Moments," "Episode V Classic Moments," and "Episode VI Classic Moments."
StarWars.com had a segment of the website aimed at younger fans called Star Wars Kids. It contained games, quizzes, news, arts and crafts, recipes, and other activities. Beginning in summer 2008, the section focused heavily on Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Following the Disney purchase of Lucasfilm, it was replaced by a separate website called StarWarsKids.com.
Between 2002 and 2013, StarWars.com featured its own collector database, the Cargo Bay. It was organized between several categories of products: Apparel, Audio, Books, Games, Miscellaneous, Print, Toys, and Video. Each product was detailed on its own page, and users could browse through a dedicated search engine, with advanced search options for Hyperspace subscribers. The Cargo Bay also allowed users to create two lists: one for items they possessed, and the other as a wish list.
On April 25, 2017, StarWars.com won four Webby Awards for best website, best event and live webcast, and best mobile site and app.
On April 23, 2019, StarWars.com won five Webby Awards including the Webby Award, the "People's Voice Award in Social: Television & Film," the "Webby Award for Video: Variety," the "People's Voice Winner in Video: Events & Live streams" for their livestream of Solo: A Star Wars Story, and the "People's Voice Award for Website in the Movie & Film category," the last of which they had held for three years in a row.
On May 6, 2019, StarWars.com's team won an Emmy Award for The Star Wars Show segment "Arrested Development: Star Wars with Ron Howard!" in the Outstanding Daytime Promotional Announcement – Topical category.
On May 19, 2020, StarWars.com and Lucasfilm won five Webby Awards. The Star Wars App won both the Webby Award and the "People's Voice Award in Apps, Mobile, and Voice: Entertainment." StarWars.com's social media channels won the Webby Award and the "People's Voice Award in Social: Television & Film," Finally, The Star Wars Show won the "People's Voice Award in Video: Series."
On May 26, 2021, StarWars.com won ten Telly Awards. Our Star Wars Stories won the Gold non-broadcast general award for diversity and inclusion, the Silver branded content general award for remote production, and the Bronze branded content general aware for diversity and inclusion. Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge won the Silver non-broadcast general award for children's audience and the Bronze branded content general award for children. The Star Wars Show won the Silver non-broadcast general award for entertainment, the Silver branded content general award for entertainment, the bronze non-broadcast general live events award for its coverage of The Star Wars Show Live! Celebration Chicago 2019, the bronze branded content general live experiences award for its coverage of The Star Wars Show Live! Celebration Chicago 2019, and the bronze branded content craft for the Star Wars: The Animals Strike Back.
Within the Star Wars universe, starwars.com was the HoloNet address of an extensive list of historical resources. In the Star Wars: The Clone Wars theatrical film, Aurebesh billboards outside Ziro's club read "WWW STARWARS COM."
- "Cyber Notes: Catching the Special Edition on the Net" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 10
- "Star News" — Star Wars Insider 32
- "200 Reasons Why We Love Star Wars" — Star Wars Insider 200
- Star Wars Year By Year: A Visual History, New Edition
- "Launchpad" — Star Wars Insider 204
- "Ahsoka So Far" — Star Wars Insider 218
- Star Wars: Shatterpoint — Hello There Squad Pack