Last month, there was a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices cried out in terror due to reports that theStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicremake was indefinitely delayed. It’s no secret thatKOTORremains one of the most popularStar Warsgamesto date, and fans have begged for a threequel or a remake for years. Their wishes were seemingly answered when Aspyr announced it was working on the remake at the PlayStation Showcase last year.
Once the initial excitement passed, there were plenty of concerns. It has nothing to do with the trailer not really being representative of the game, but theKOTOR Remakewould be, by far, Aspyr’s biggest project. It has never tackled something of this magnitude before, and while there should always be support for the underdogs, this really isn’t the time. The release ofThe Force Unleashedand the initiallybugged and broken port ofKOTOR 2on Switch, both from Aspyr, didn’t inspire confidence, and it seems the writing was on the wall for theKOTOR Remakedelay.
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According to the initial report by Bloomberg, this internalKnights of the Old Republic Remakedelay came as a result of executives not being impressed by a demonstration of the game, despite Aspyr feeling good about it. This led to two major developers on the game being fired, its development being indefinitely paused, and Aspyr looking at other work, after working on this title for around 3 years. Now, while publisher Embracer Group did not name names, it recently confirmed one of its titles was being transferred to another developer: “This was done to ensure the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title. We are not expecting any material delays for the title based on this transition.”
Bloomberg’s report stated that some Aspyr developers believed Saber Interactive would take over the project, as it had been assisting, and although not outright confirmed, this is indeed likely the situation now. It’s very possible that thenow-Saber-led development on theKOTOR Remakeis moving again, and that’s exciting for many fans, but unfortunately, this isn’t necessarily the good news fans want.
Knights of the Old Republic is Showing the First Major Red Flag of Development Hell
Whereas Aspyr apparently intended to release theKOTOR Remakein 2022, new estimates make 2025 more realistic. Saber Interactive has more experience with high-profile IPs outsideStar Wars,having worked on highly-reviewed titles like theHalo: Combat Evolved Remake, theHalo Master Chief Collection, and theSwitch port ofThe Witcher 3,but this changing of hands and new estimate are a red flag. It seems KOTOR Remake could be in the earliest stages of development hell.
For context,Dead Island 2is perhaps the most definitive ‘in-development hell’ title right now. It was revealed in E3 2014 but has changed hands multiple times since then, with nothing known about the game 8 years later despite it getting an initial trailer at the reveal. Recent leaks suggestDead Island 2’s release dateis coming in February, but after such a strenuous development, many doubt this and question if it’ll ever actually release. Within that, there is concern about the title’s quality.Dead Island 2may be in late-stage development hell, butKOTOR Remakeis showing signs of early-stage development hell right now.
If Saber isn’t up to the task, then it’s possible Embracer will move the project again. And every changing of hands means a changing of vision and skill, means an extended development time, and means more things may be dialed back to meet publisher demands. Now, it would be great to be wrong. It would be great for Saber interactive to take thisKOTOR Remakeproject, absolutely run away with it, have a smooth development from here on out (as smooth as development can be, anyway), and release the title to amazing reviews in 2025. But there’s not much confidence in that now, and the project is one more mishap from definitively entering development hell.
Knights of the Old Republic Remakemay have resumed development for PS5.
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