When Disney bought Lucasfilm andStar Warsfor $4 billion in 2012, it immediately got to work cleaning up the convoluted and often contradictory expanded universe, labelling everything beyond the movies and TV shows as ‘Legends’. Over time, certain elements would be folded into its more cohesive canon, like the Republic Commandos and Grand Admiral Thrawn, but The Old Republic is still waiting for its turn under Tattooine’s twin suns.
There has been the odd reference here and there, usually to Darth Revan (including in the latest season of Andor, which made everyone think hesa wasa Gungan), but the closest Disney has ever come to touching on the era in any meaningful way is through The High Republic, which is still setcenturieslater. So, when PlayStation announced a remake forKnights of the Old Republicin 2021, a spark lit under the fanbase. Somehow, KOTOR had returned.
And then… crickets.
There Have Been A Dozen Star Wars TV Shows And Games Since KOTOR Was Announced
A year later,it was delayed indefinitely,changing hands asSaber Interactive took over developmentfrom Aspyr. Already a worrying start. Rumours then started mounting that the game had been cancelled, fears that were only made worse whenEmbracer CEO Lars Wingefors started to dodge questions about the projectentirely. Shortly after,the trailer was delisted. Things looked bleak for the classic BioWare RPG’s long-overdue return.
But last year,Embracer promised that the remake was “alive and well”, a comment that would be reiterated several times in the coming months. As recently as March,Saber CCO Tim Willits stated that “everything that we have talked about is still in development”. Thatshouldbe reassuring, but after Knights of the Old Republic’s no-show at the most recent State of Play, I’m starting to lose faith in these empty updates.
It’s been four years. Any excitement from that initialglanceat Revan (which let’s face it, was the equivalent of anElder Scrollsmountain range) has completely faded.Most fans have moved on to begging for Battlefront 3. I’m not expecting a reveal anymore, certainly not at Summer Game Fest (I’ll eat my Finn action figure if I’m wrong). At best, I’m expecting Sabre to drop an apology letter to the community on a random Tuesday, announcing its cancellation with as much fanfare as an Admiral Ackbar cameo.
That happened in Andor, too.
In 2023, insiders felt the same. Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb was asked about when he expected KOTOR to release, amidst reports claiming that it’d be lucky to launch in 2024. Grubb was a lot harsher, going as far as to say thathe doesn’t think it will “ever come out”. He even speculated that thePrince of Persia: The Sands of Timeremake, which completely restarted development after its lacklustre reveal, would beat it to the punch. By the looks of things, he’s right,since PoP is supposedly launching sometime next year.
I’d love for Knights of the Old Republic to return, welcoming a new generation into Star Wars’ best era, and potentially kickstarting a renaissance of Old Republic storytelling, but it’s just not happening. We’ve heard nothing about the game —seennothing from it. The only evidence of its existence is a brief CG shot of a mask and some vague promises. As everyone and their mother says in Star Wars, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
