A new report claims that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake is still in development following Embracer Group selling developer Saber Interactive for $500 million to a group of private investors.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake (TBA), Aspyr
This report comes from Jason Schreier at Bloomberg who notes that Saber Interactive “will become a privately owned company with around 3,500 employees.”
He also shared, “The company plans to continue developing a remake of Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic, the highly anticipated game that was removed from its previous developer Aspyr Media in 2022.”
Saber Interactive is currently in development on a number of games including Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Jurassic Park: Survival, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game, A Quiet Place: The Game, and Heading Out.
A screenshot from Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (2024), Saber Interactive
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Back in November it appeared that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake development had been stopped. Jeff Grub at Giant Bomb claimed, “This game is not being worked on right now. Just full stop, this game is not being worked on in any way at any studio.”
The game has already been through development hell since it was first announced. It was announced by Lucasfilm Games, PlayStation, and Aspyr back in 2021 during a PlayStation Showcase.
At the time Aspyr Lead Producer Ryan Treadwell was asked, “Is this like a remaster of the original game? What’s going on here?”
He answered, “It’s so much more, Sid. This is a complete remake of this beloved Star Wars story. For Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake, we are rebuilding from the ground up while maintaining that integrity and story from the original.”
Screenshot of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), BioWare
Next, he was asked, “So Ryan, how much of a remake are we talking about here? Is this updating some graphics? Adding some higher resolution modes?”
Treadwell replied, “You know the original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a true classic and one of our favorite Star Wars story ever. We want to honor that original story and make it as impactful for players today.”
“In terms of the visuals we have the opportunity to present this story with a much higher level of fidelity than was possible in the past while making sure that we are being authentic to what players loved about that original game,” he added.
In May 2022 Embracer Group board member Matthew Karch revealed that Evil Dead developer Saber Interactive was working on the remake with Aspyr.
During the company’s Q4 report, he revealed, “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.”
Karch added, “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.”
However, in July 2022, Schreier claimed the game had been indefinitely paused. He reported that Aspyr’s Design Director Brad Prince and Art Director Jason Minor were fired following a demo of the game in June.
Following the firings and the demo, Schreier reported, “Aspyr’s studio heads told staff that the vertical slice wasn’t where they wanted it to be and that the project would be paused, according to two people who were in the meeting.”
He added, “One person familiar with the discussions suggested that a disproportionate amount of time and money had gone into the demo and that the project’s current course wasn’t sustainable.”
Screenshot of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), BioWare
In August 2022, Schreier reported that the game’s entire development had shifted from Aspyr to Saber, “The project, formerly in development at Austin, Texas-based Aspyr Media, is now being led by one of Saber Interactive’s Eastern European studios, according to a person familiar with the change who asked not to be identified because the details are private.”
This report came following Embracer Group revealed in a financial report that “one of the Group’s AAA projects has transitioned to another studio within the Group.” The company added, “This was done to ensure the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title.”
Screenshot of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), BioWare
During the company’s Q4 Year-End Report in May 2023, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors was asked for an update on the game. Specifically he was asked, “Could please clarify the current status of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake in regards to its development status and what shape is it in?”
He answered, “Favorite question. I have no further comments.”
In September 2023, all of the promotional trailers announcing the game were privated on YouTube. A Sony spokesman informed Kotaku this was done because of a license expiration for the music.
The spokesman explained, “As part of normal business, we delist assets with licensed music when the licenses expire.”
However, the PlayStation Spain YouTube account still had the trailer publicly listed at the time. It has since been privated.
Screenshot of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), BioWare
On top of all this development chaos. The game also had social justice activist Sam Maggs, a former writer at The Mary Sue, working on the project.
Maggs announced her involvement back in September 2021 when the game was first announced. She posted on X, “IT’S ACTUALLY HAPPENING”
IT’S ACTUALLY HAPPENING: pic.twitter.com/4kcJ4UiTsd
— Sam Maggs (@SamMaggs) September 9, 2021
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In a follow-up tweet, she wrote, “Could not be more honored and excited to be part of an INCREDIBLE team at Aspyr Media to remake one of my all-time favorite games!!
Sam Maggs on X
By February 2022, Maggs had quit the game writing on her website, “I was on this project for like 9 months in 2021 and then I quit. You’re gonna be okay. If you e-mail or message me about it, I won’t see it. My filters are really good.”
Screenshot of Sam Maggs’ website
This announcement confirmed a scoop from YouTuber MrMattyPlays who claimed in January 2022, “Her contract has expired. She’s move on to work at Wizards of the Coast to be a Narrative Lead.”
He added, “Her role was very minor compared to others that work there.”
Screenshot of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), BioWare
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Not only did MrMattyPlays claim that Maggs had moved on in January, but he also shared a number of changes that the Remake was going to make to the original game.
He noted, “First and foremost I wanted to talk about some of the action combat, which as we saw in the job listings that’s more than likely confirmed at this point in time. Gonna be the thing.”
He continued, “What it was compared to in the terms of inspiration, this does not mean the execution will be like, but inspiration. They looked at the likes of God of War, Nioh 2…”
Screenshot of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), BioWare
As for the story, he shared, “On the story front, I was told that they’re staying faithful to the main story outside of some changes to characters like race, species, name, age. But that’s not going to apply to anyone connected to the main plot.”
He went on to reveal that the game would include minigames such as Swoop Racing and the Pazaak card game, and that the game’s original soundtrack would be remastered.
What do you make of this report that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake is still in development and that Embracer Group sold Saber Interactive?
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