The upcoming Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake has been delayed indefinitely following development trouble at Aspyr.
The development team working on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake showcased a vertical slice (a short proof-of-concept demo designed to demonstrate a game’s major features) to publishers at Lucasfilm and Sony in late June. According to Bloomberg, the demo wasn’t well received and Aspyr’s studio heads have since said the game has been put on pause.
Shortly after the demo, design director Brad Prince and art director Jason Minor were fired from the project, surprising some developers who were excited about the game and felt it was on track. Aspyr’s studio heads reportedly said the demo wasn’t in the state they expected it to be.
Keep waiting, meatbags
Aspyr had originally planned to release the Knights of the Old Republic Remake by the end of 2022, but those working on the project suspect a more realistic timeframe is 2025. Given the studio’s recent firings, and that it’s still hiring for several senior positions including a creative director and several senior software engineer positions, don’t expect the game to appear anytime soon.
It’s possible that Aspyr won’t be the one to release it at all. Embracer, the studio’s parent company, announced back in May that another of its subsidiaries, Saber Interactive, was joining the project. According to Bloomberg, some Aspyr employees believe Saber may eventually take over full development of the game.
These are only the latest disruptions to the studio. Ex-lead producer Ryan Treadwell left Aspyr in May earlier this year for VR developer Skydance Interactive according to his LinkedIn profile. And writer Sam Maggs left the project after nine months in 2021. With the game now on hold, series fans who were excited to see the classic 2003 RPG rebooted and brought to the PS5 will have to hold their breath.
Aside from Knights of the Old Republic’s acclaim, this remake is noteworthy as one of the first modern Star Wars games to be developed outside of EA. The publisher signed a licensing exclusivity deal in 2013, which is set to expire next year. Several Star Wars titles have already been announced in anticipation, including three new games from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order developer Respawn. It'll be some time before they release, however, and the next game set in the galaxy far, far away was only recently delayed to next year.
