The hotly-anticipated remake of classic RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is in “serious trouble” according to sources close to the project. In fact, the situation is so dire that its claimed development of the game has been paused resulting in an indefinite delay.
News of these development issues come from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier who reports that the developer of the remake, Aspyr, abruptly fired the game’s art director and design director earlier this month. This staff shakeup came in the wake of internal meetings where the development team was informed that the project is now on pause after a demo showcased to production partners Lucasfilm and Sony reportedly failed to meet expectations.
Announced last September for PS5 and PC platforms, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake has been in active development for several years. Schreier reports that Aspyr had originally hoped to have the game ready for release by the end of 2022. But at this point, a more realistic release window would have the game arriving in 2025 — assuming that development starts up again in the near future.
Originally released in 2003 for PC and Xbox, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was developed by Bioware and is widely considered one of the greatest RPGs ever made. In recent years it's been ported to multiple modern platforms including iOS and Android devices and the Nintendo Switch, it’s also playable on Xbox Series X via the console’s backwards compatibility mode. However, a full remake has long been requested by the passionate Star Wars fanbase.
Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall with this one, as there have been signs the project was in trouble over the last few months. Aside from a complete lack of development updates, it was announced in May that Saber Interactive (also owned by Aspyr’s parent company, Embracer) would be assisting in the game’s development, perhaps indicating production wasn’t progressing as hoped. Bloomberg’s sources suggest that Saber could now fully take the reins to see the remake over the finish line.
For now, the fate of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake appears to be up in the air, but there’s no doubt that interest in the project remains extremely high. The game’s announcement trailer has raked up nearly five million views in 10 months, and this unfortunate news has lit up social media with fans expressing their disappointment.
Considering a KOTOR remake has been heavily fan-requested for decades it would be a great shame to see it become vapourware. Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen and development is able to recommence shortly. However, anybody jonesing to step back on aboard the Ebon Hawk should brace themselves for a lengthy wait. Whatever the future of Star Wars Knight of the Old Republic Remake we can confidently say we won’t be playing it anytime soon.
