Sony sent the Star Wars fandom into a frenzy with its Fall 2021 PlayStation Showcase as it revealed a remake of the beloved Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The legendary remake was confirmed to be coming from Aspyr Media as a PS5 console launch exclusive, but no release date was announced.
The Star Wars RPG debuted in 2003 as players took control of their own Jedi to adventure the galaxy in pursuit of Darth Malak. Players had the ability to choose between three classes and earn both Light and Dark Side points to determine which side of the force they align with, all while taking on round-based waves of combat against enemies.
Bloomberg recently offered a disappointing update on the project in July as Aspyr delayed the game indefinitely, firing its art director and design director. The release timeframe was reportedly up in the air even within the studio as Aspyr initially targeted a 2022 release, while many developers believed the remake wouldn't be complete until at least 2025.
Now, in the wake of last month's unfortunate news regarding the remake, a new report may have offered a more optimistic turn on events.
Star Wars: KOTOR Remake Gets Promising Update
As shared by Eurogamer, Embracer Group revealed in its Q1 interim report that one of its AAA games being developed by Aspyr Media has been moved to another studio within the group to ensure that "the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title.”
The report omitted which project was shifting development away from Aspyr, but logical speculation points toward it being the troubled Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake. Embracer also noted that it is “not expecting any material delays for the title based on this transition,” contracting previous reports of the KOTOR Remake being delayed indefinitely.
Saber Interactive joined Aspyr to assist with the development of the Star Wars remake back in May as Embracer felt the studio would need help to complete the "massive product." The announcement was made in Embracer Group's Q4 report in May - via Eurogamer - as they explained the decision before promising news would arrive in the next "several months:"
“Aspyr has gone full in to make this the best game that they can make. When we acquired Aspyr, we knew from the start that they would require our assistance [and] Saber has tremendous expertise in creating these types of products. We’re fully confident that the game is going to be fantastic, but it’s a massive, massive product and massive products require a lot of effort and a lot of time to make good. And especially when you’re talking about a game already old - very old - we’ve basically had to remake that game from scratch.”
When Will the Star Wars KOTOR Remake Release?
Saber Interactive joined the development of the KOTOR Remake just three months ago due to the "tremendous expertise" they have in creating projects of this nature. With Embracer pushing the title as a "massive product" that will require "a lot of effort and a lot of time" to remake "from scratch," Saber is likely the studio taking over the project.
Aspyr has famously been a studio that puts its emphasis on porting existing titles to other platforms, but the KOTOR Remake appears to have evolved into a far larger endeavor. The goal behind the project appears to be a remake from the ground up to bring the iconic Star Wars experience to next-gen.
Comparing the catalogs of the two studios, Saber has far more experience in building larger experiences, particularly in recent years. Based on the most recent information available, Aspyr reportedly holds 140 employees compared to the 1350 staff at Saber, so the KOTOR Remake would be in far stronger hands there.
Embracer promised in May that news on the remake will be coming in the next several months, so fans can hopefully look forward to news arriving in the near future. But that's not to say that the highly-anticipated experience will be released anytime soon, as shifting development between studios will undoubtedly slow things down.
The original release timeframe may have been aiming for 2022, but with developers reportedly seeing 2025 as the earliest possible date of completion, there may still be a long wait to come. Perhaps more news will arrive at a Sony showcase or The Game Awards later this year.