SWL-5 overseers were manufactured by Stonewall Labs prior to the Battle of Yavin. When the Stonewall Labs facility on Naboo was closed, security droids remained activated. Several ZH-28 guards, SWL-5 overseers, LC-92 antagonists, Mechthorians and B1-Series battle droids continued their patrol programs in the laboratory and in the surrounding area. In 1 ABY, a spacer was trying to acquire an experimental Old Republic droid module from a droideka in the Stonewall Labs facility. The spacer entered the laboratory and fought several SWL-5 overseers to finally access the module.
The SWL-5 overseers appeared in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts, prior to its closure on December 15, 2011. The SWL-5 overseers were added to the game as part of the "Legacy Quest" with the release of the "Publish 25," a.k.a. the "New Game Enhancements," on November 15, 2005.