Since 2003, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) has held the championship title for the best game to represent the galaxy from far, far away. BioWare’s cinematic storytelling, world-class voice acting, and addictive turn-based RPG action make KOTOR one of the most unforgettable tales in the history of Star Wars. A remake has been in development for years, but now it’s definitely going to take longer to come out.
Timeline of KOTOR Remake
KOTOR has seen ports to almost every modern system, but an official remake was first announced in 2021 at a PlayStation Showcase event. It was planned to be released on PlayStation 5 and PC.
However, news broke out in July 2022 that the remake would be delayed indefinitely because Sony and Lucasfilm were unimpressed with the demo.
Later, in August 2022, reports noted that executives were so dissatisfied with the progress that ASPYR, the original developers (who also did all the ports), were being let go in favor of a new studio, Saber Interactive.
Since the time ASPYR was removed from the project, news has remained pretty tight-lipped about the state of the remake, which of course, concerns die-hard fans. News from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier confirmed the project is still in development on November 21, 2023.
At an investor briefing for Embracer, the publisher, held on May 24, 2023, CEO Lars Wingefors was fielding questions. One of the questions surrounded the state of the KOTOR Remake, to which Wingefors replied, “no further comments.”
Embracer also disclosed in their year-end report a list of games released and still in development as of May 24, 2023, one of which included the KOTOR remake.
Future of KOTOR Remake
As of April 2024, Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch says the KOTOR Remake project “is alive and well” as work continues for it. However, the studio recently parted ways with Embracer Group.
In an interview with IGN, Karch said “It’s clear and it’s obvious that we’re working on this…it’s been in the press numerous times. What I will say is that the game is alive and well, and we’re dedicated to making sure we exceed consumer expectations”
This likely means the project is simply not in a state where they are confident to discuss it right now. Seeing as how a new studio was reportedly taking over the reins from ASPYR, and there’s been no official news of a cancellation, the chances are good that a KOTOR remake is still going to happen. But not for a while.
Still, the modding community offers tons of face-lifts to the original experience that PC gamers can appreciate right now, such as the restoration of old content, upscaled cutscenes, and the ability to use the Force from the beginning of the game.
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What’s more, even though fans never truly got KOTOR 3 like they wanted, The Old Republic MMORPG that continues the story of the series is still going on more than 11 years after its initial release.