Disorder represents the sixth cinematic trailer from BioWare for the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. Functioning as a promotional piece, it highlights the Legacy of the Sith expansion. Its debut occurred on February 15, 2022, coinciding with the expansion's launch.
In contrast to earlier Star Wars: The Old Republic cinematic trailers, which Blur Studio animated, Disorder was produced by Industrial Light & Magic. Neel Upadhye, who previously collaborated with the animation studio on Hunted, a cinematic trailer for the 2020 game Star Wars: Squadrons, directed the short. Upadhye co-wrote the short alongside a team of writers, including Alex Backes, Josh Callahan, Tanner Boyajian, and Sam Schectman.
Charles Boyd, the creative director for The Old Republic, explained that Disorder had two primary objectives: to provide background information for the Legacy of the Sith expansion, and to showcase the challenging ethical choices that players of the MMORPG had faced throughout the game's first decade. Callahan mentioned that the writers of Disorder aimed to present a narrative that didn't portray the Jedi Order as flawless heroes, opting instead to depict them as individuals with imperfections.
Disorder was first shown to the public on February 15, 2022, which was the same day the Legacy of the Sith expansion became available.
The storyline of Disorder was foreshadowed in Mission Abstract: Investigate link between Darth Malgus and the planet Elom, a short story presented as an in-universe report composed by Jedi Master Denolm Orr. During his investigation, Orr deduces that Malgus' schemes likely lead to the planet Elom, prompting him to seek the truth alongside Kateen and a small group. As a promotional piece for Legacy of the Sith, Disorder serves to establish the trajectories of the expansion's key characters, specifically Old Republic veteran Malgus and the newly introduced Sa'har.
Similar to prior Old Republic cinematics, Disorder establishes connections to the Star Wars Skywalker Saga films. A Chroon-Tan B-Machine midwife droid makes an appearance in the short, having previously been seen in Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. Another Episode III reference appears musically, as the short's composer Blake Robinson reuses a section of "Anakin's Dark Deeds" from John Williams' score for that film. This musical piece had been previously incorporated into the Old Republic cinematics Deceived, Hope, and Return.