Star Wars KOTOR (abbreviation for Knights of the Old Republic) is an RPG developed by Bioware and published by LucasArts (now known as Lucasfilm Games). Bioware has shown its command of the craft with RPGs ever since it developed the iconic Mass Effect franchise.
The game was released almost two decades ago on July 16, 2003. It was exclusive to Xbox and Windows at launch and was ported to mobile phones and Switch later on.
In September 2021, KOTOR — Remake was announced to be in development for Windows and PlayStation 5. This seemed to be going the opposite way as compared to the original which was exclusive to Xbox and Windows. Aspyr which was responsible for the game’s port on Mac OS X, iOS, and Android took charge of the remake.
Now the news comes from Jeff Grubb, author, roleplaying game designer, and gaming industry insider shared that the game is not being worked on right now.
What Jeff Grubb Had to Say About Star Wars Kotor — Remake
On the Podcast titled Game Mess Mornings which was streamed on November 17. 2023. Jeff Grub was seen chatting with Tamoor Hussain, managing editor at GameSpot. The podcast has several topics ranging from Dragon’s Dogma 2 and PlayStation. The highlight, however, was the discussion regarding Star Wars KOTOR — Remake.
Jeff Grubb initially quoted the incident when Embracer Group’s CEO preferred to remain silent on Star Wars KOTOR Remake during a financial presentation. Embracer CEO Lars Wingerfors also stated:
I notice that anything I say to this becomes a headline, so that is my only comment,” he said when asked about the game.
Then Bloomberg’s report of the game being put on hold, published in 2022 was also mentioned by Jeff Grubb. This was allegedly because a demo production of the game didn’t go over very well. The art director, Brad Prince, and design director, Jason Minor of the project were also fired. The directors also expressed on Social Media that the dismissal came as a surprise.
Sony also recently pulled all tweets and videos of the game from the internet. Rumors of the game were then handed from Aspyr to several other developers before subsequently being handed to Saber Interactive also did the rounds on the Internet.
Amongst all this Speculation, Grubb stated that:
I just want to like clear it up. This game is not being worked on right now… in any way, in any studio. I looked into it a little bit. I don’t think this is news to most of you, I think you guys can piece this together if you’ve been listening to this…
He continued:
… and Sony stepping away and scrubbing mentions of Knights of the Old Republic from social media and YouTube. I think you can put two-and-two together…
This was followed by Jeff Grubb reiterating the news and how definitive it was as per him. While, there is no confirmation from Sony, Embracer, Aspyr, or any of the mentioned shareholders on the state of the game. Things seem grim for Star Wars KOTOR — Remake.
Some Background on Star Wars Kotor — Remake
The game was initially announced during a Sony PlayStation Showcase event in September 2021. The remake has had several speedbumps in the past as well. While the game is a remake of a very treasured classic. The remake would have been a good idea considering that it was released in 2003.
Bloomberg also reported in 2022 that the game had been paused. The demo which was mentioned earlier did not go down well with Sony as well as Lucasfilm. Two major issues as per Bloomberg were present, One, the project may not have been sustainable given the resources spent on the demo itself. Two, the release timeline of 2022’s end which was being targeted earlier, would be incredibly unrealistic. A more realistic timeline would be 2025.
All of these things make it seem that the game is undoubtedly on a collision course. The reasons for the same cannot be highlighted as they are largely unknown. Star Wars KOTOR — Remake is most probably delayed indefinitely unless there is some development on the matter confirmed officially.
The recent restructuring at Embracer Group also took place, which would most likely affect studios that are owned by it. All of this raises even more questions for Star Wars KOTOR — Remake.
Follow us for more entertainment coverage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
