The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake originally held a lot of promise, but there's reason to be concerned about its release. Much like Hollywood with movies, the gaming industry is investing a lot of time, resources, and effort on remaking some of the most iconic and influential video games of all time. In just the last few years, players have been able to revisit Resident Evil 2 and 3, Final Fantasy 7, and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening thanks to remakes, and that's barely scratching the surface. With gaming technology coming such a long way in the last decade or two, some older titles benefit greatly from the remake treatment and can end up being the definitive way to play. That's what fans were hoping for from the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake.
Announced almost exactly a year ago during a PlayStation Showcase, Star Wars: Knights of the Old RepublicRemake became one of the biggest talking points in an already-stacked showcase. The original Knights of the Old Republic, released back in 2003, became an instant classic for the Star Wars franchise and is still widely considered to be one of the best Star Wars video games of all time. Despite the limited technology of the time, BioWare was able to capture the unique atmosphere of Star Wars, while also pushing the franchise into uncharted territory, setting the game 4000 years before Phantom Menace. The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake has a lot of expectations to live up to, which some fans believe it is never going to achieve.
The Current Status of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake
At the end of July 2022, it was reported that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake had been delayed indefinitely. The game's Art Director and Design Director were reportedly fired from the project, and Aspyr held a series of internal meetings, where it was eventually decided to put the KOTOR Remake on pause.
Just prior to this delay, another report alleged that the KOTOR Remake's development cycle was becoming unsustainable, with the developer taking too much time and money to produce just a short demo for Sony and Lucasfilm. Upon seeing the demo, Lucasfilm and Sony expressed their disappointment.
About a month later, Embracer Group, the owner of Aspyr, announced that one of its AAA projects had moved to a new developer. Though it wasn't confirmed exactly which game, the consensus is that this title is the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake, and that it's moved over to Saber Interactive. If this is true, then the best-case scenario is that the Knights of the Old Republic Remake is still a few years out.
Perhaps the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake Was Too Good To Be True
The indefinite delay of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake has given fans time to reflect on the project as a whole. When the remake was first announced, the internet was ablaze with fan support. Just a brief 30-second teaser of Darth Revan in all his HD glory was all that was needed to excite fans. A Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake had been one of the most requested remakes of recent memory, right up there with Final Fantasy 7, and the confirmation that one was finally on the way both shocked and delighted.
On paper, the idea was perfect. Knights of the Old Republic is one of the most beloved RPGs of all time, but it's starting to show its age nearly 20 years later. But with a stellar story, some classic BioWare dialogue, and some of the most complex world-building in any Star Wars property, a remake wouldn't need to do too much, just give the graphics a hefty update and make the combat a little more engaging and modern. And with the announced remake being restricted to just PS5 and PC, that allowed the developer to focus on making the game as technically advanced as possible.
But after that initial wave of hype wore off, fans began investigating the remake a little further. While Aspyr has been working in the industry since 1997, the company's prime directive has been porting a plethora of titles to console, PC, or MAC. Over the last few years, Aspyr has become quite well known for its range of Star Wars ports, including beloved titles like Jedi Outcast and Episode 1 Racer. However, Aspyr doesn't have a lot of experience developing titles from the ground up, and that lack of experience was a bad sign for the Knights of the Old Republic Remake.
Since its announcement a year ago, no more footage, or even any details at all about the Knights of the Old Republic Remake has been given. All fans had to keep them going was the hope that the remake would live up to expectations. But the expectations surrounding the remake were high, maybe too high. Even if Aspyr produced the best game it could, fans would likely be disappointed by it in some way or another. It's possible that the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake was always just a pipe dream, an impossible project that will never be able to live up to expectations, no matter which developer was working on it. It remains to be seen what Saber does with the project, but it's not on the high horse it once was after these developments.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake is reportedly still in development.
