During Sony’s PlayStation Showcase 2021, the company unveiled Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake, a console timed-exclusive remake for PS5. The game will also see a PC release. Aspyr Media is handling this reimagining of Bioware’s beloved 2003 role-playing epic. The original game released in 2003 for PC and the original Xbox. It has also been ported to iOS and Android phones.
Within it, players took control of a customized male or female character. While taking place within the Star Wars universe, its events are thousands of years before the Galactic Empire’s formation in order to stop Malak, an evil Sith Lord, from invoking war against the Galactic Republic. Because of its timeline, players were given free reign to make choices that would influence the game’s direction, following either light or dark sides of the force.
While the announcement of the remake was initially greeted with great fanfare and joy from the passionate Star Wars community, there has recently been a disturbance in the force as reports have surfaced claiming the KOTOR Remake could be in serious trouble. In fact, it's even been suggested that the game has been delayed indefinitely.
The future of the project remains unclear, but for now, here is everything we know so far about Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, one of the PlayStation's most eagerly anticipated upcoming games.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Remake Release Date
As of right now, information concerning its release is thin. According to the official PlayStation Blog post, KOTOR is still “very early in development.”
This explains why its announcement trailer consisted of a short CG teaser. While we shouldn’t expect a release any time within the next couple of years, we do know that upon release, it will be console exclusive to PS5 for an unspecified amount of time.
A recent Bloomberg report, which indicates the game is experiencing development issues, has suggested that the remake isn't currently expected to release until 2025 at the earliest. While a launch by the end of 2022 was originally targeted, that has proved to be overly ambitious.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Remake trailer
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Remake Studio and Speculation
Without Bioware helming the project, there’s no other studio that makes more sense for a KOTOR remake than Aspyr Media. If you aren’t familiar with them, you’ve probably played one of their many Star Wars conversions on current platforms.
They’ve worked on the modern-day releases of Star Wars Episode 1 Racer, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast, and Star Wars: Republic Commando. They were even responsible for the iOS and Android ports of KOTOR 1 and 2. Interestingly, the PlayStation blog also makes mention of the fact that some of the original game’s developers are at Aspyr, chipping away at the remake.
The original KOTOR is a universally praised title, leaving little room for error, as Aspyr aims to preserve the original’s integrity, giving it a new lease on life using modern technology. We can’t say to what extent the gameplay will be altered, but the relationship between KOTOR and its sequel can’t be ignored.
KOTOR 2 was infamously rushed out the door too early, leading to a lackluster sequel with tons of cut content. A KOTOR remake could be the perfect opportunity to revive the sequel’s original vision.
As Aspyr Media comes closer to launch, they’ll already have the gameplay systems, assets, and technology in place to allow a quicker turnaround for a potential KOTOR 2 remake. By focusing less on the technology, the studio could focus more on looking at KOTOR 2’s design documents, source code, and existing mods which used cut content to restore a game that was never truly finished.
Looking at consumer and critical consensus, KOTOR 2 needs a remake far more than its predecessor. However, in order to provide a consistent experience, remaking the original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was in order.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Remake Xbox release?
The original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was console exclusive, so it would be fair to assume an Xbox version of its remake. According to the wording on the PlayStation Blog and Aspyr’s announcement tweet, the current launch is being handled in partnership with PlayStation. It will still launch on PC, but in the console space, PlayStation 5 gets it first. There’s no information on this exclusivity window, but partnerships like this tend to range anywhere from six months to two years.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Remake Outlook
While the remake is still early in development with little information to go on, this is a promising project. Some remasters and remakes end up launching with issues when handed off to companies that don’t understand the heart of the games they’re reimagining.
In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic’s case, there is little cause for concern. Aspyr Media is a Star Wars machine, having pumped out solid remasters of classic Star Wars titles over the past few years. With a much larger budget and the expanded scope of being a remake rather than a remaster, this could be one of the most exciting remakes we’ve seen in some time.
