Short answers, pulled from the story.
The game was written by Bill Slavicsek, Andy Collins, and J. D. Wiker. Slavicsek had also worked on the earlier West End Games Star Wars roleplaying game, making him one of the few designers who contributed to both official Star Wars RPG lines.
Wizards of the Coast released the Saga Edition Core Rulebook on the 5th of June 2007. It streamlined the rules significantly compared to the original and revised editions, reducing the number of character classes from nine to five.
The Saga Edition won the Gold ENnie Awards for Best Game, Best d20/OGL Product, and Best Rules. It also received the Silver ENnie Award for Product of the Year.
On the 28th of January 2010, Wizards of the Coast announced they would not renew their license to produce Star Wars roleplaying and miniature gaming products. The license ended in May 2010, and the game went out of print.
The original and revised editions replaced standard hit points with two separate damage pools. Vitality points functioned like hit points in other d20 games and were rolled each level with a Constitution bonus added. Wound points equaled a character's Constitution score directly and represented serious injury. The Saga Edition replaced this system with standard hit points.
The Revised Core Rulebook included sixteen playable species: Humans, Bothans, Cereans, Duros, Ewoks, Gungans, Ithorians, Kel Dor, Mon Calamari, Quarren, Rodians, Sullustans, Trandoshans, Twi'leks, Wookiees, and Zabrak, plus the unusual option of playing a Droid.