KOTOR
While fans were excited about the possibility of a remake of one of the greatest Star Wars games ever made, Knights of the Old Republic, things have not gone according to plan.
The KOTOR remake was announced way back in 2021 at the PlayStation showcase, revealing no real footage but at least saying the project was in motion. It was being developed by Aspyr and published by SIE, though the Aspyr side of the equation appears to have mucked things up. Now, the announcement tweet for the remake has been deleted, and the trailer for the reveal has been delisted on YouTube. Both happened recently.
This comes after a report back in 2022 where Bloomberg said that KOTOR development was put on hold indefinitely due to a dispute between Aspyr, Sony and Lucasfilm about the quality of the remake and how long it would take to release. Aspyr was pulled from the project and things moved over to Saber Interactive in August of 2022, but we’ve heard absolutely nothing about it since then. Now, with these most recent de-listings, it’s possible the entire project has been scrapped.
KOTOR
If so, what a waste. This should have been a top-tier priority, as we’ve seen remakes of classic games do extraordinarily well, from Dead Space to Final Fantasy VII, and if KOTOR got that same level of care, it could have been a stellar Star Wars experience for modern day fans.
But giving it Aspyr, who worked on iOS ports of KOTOR 1 and 2, was a mistake. And what do you know, we can trace this back to who else, Embracer, the extremely troubled conglomerate who as of 2021, owns both Saber Interactive and Aspyr, which was a studio under the label. Embracer has gone through incredibly turbulent times lately, losing a $2 billion deal after buying up loads of studios, including high profile ones like Gearbox, Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal, the latter two purchased from Square Enix, so this disaster coming back to them makes total sense.
While no, the KOTOR remake has not been officially cancelled yet, it does not seem long for this world. Even if this version falls apart, I hope the idea of a full-on KOTOR remake doesn’t die, as if it was handled properly, ie. by no one linked to Embracer, it could be an excellent revival. There have even been rumors that Disney may end up adapting KOTOR as one of its many live-action Star Wars projects, given that they’re forever in search of new (old) ideas. So that would pair well, certainly.
I would not expect this current version to survive. Hopefully the next time around, someone else gets it right.
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