Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Remake (PS5)

[Ashley]

Announced during the PlayStation showcase and developed by Aspyr

 

[Ganepark32]

Its been confirmed to be a timed console exclusive for the PS5.

So hyped. The rumours have dragged on for ages and though I'd have loved to actually see the game, just having it confirmed is enough for me. Its no longer a fantasy, its happening and I can't wait to see and play the game as the original KOTOR is one of my favourite games of all time.

They better keep HK-47 just the way he was though those meatbags at Aspyr 

[Mandalore]

There's a big article on the official Star Wars site going into more details:

https://www.starwars.com/news/knights-of-the-old-republic-remake

I'm more optimistic after reading that, it's not just a port studio suddenly thrown in the deep end.

[Ronnie]

Looking forward to this but my hype deflated significantly when I realised this is years away from release.

[LazyBoy]

Good choice for a remake - excited about this.

[Happenstance]

Been so many years since I played Kotor. Can’t wait to do it again.

[Julius]

Schreier/Bloomberg reporting that this has been indefinitely delayed. 

 

[Hero-of-Time]

Given how rough sone of Aspyr's ports are, this doesn't surprise me in the slightest. I was pretty shocked that they got the contract for this in the first place.

This is another example of why you shouldn't be announcing your games stupidly early. 

 

[Julius]

Schreier with the scoops: reportedly moving to develop under Saber Interactive from Aspyr.

Not surprising given the news a few weeks ago about two of its directors being fired and being delayed indefinitely. Let the long wait begin! 

[Mandalore]

Seems like the game is being handed from one unproven developer to another. If Saber Interactive can do a good job with Space Marine 2 (which still has no firm release date), then maybe I'll start getting more optimistic about this remake again.

[Hero-of-Time]

1 minute ago, Mandalore said:

Seems like the game is being handed from one unproven developer to another. If Saber Interactive can do a good job with Space Marine 2 (which still has no firm release date), then maybe I'll start getting more optimistic about this remake again.

Yeah, I haven't got high hopes for it, even with the change of developers. The original game is a fan favourite and I'm surprised that they didn't go with a well established studio to give the game the treatment and respect it deserves. 

[Julius]

Looks like the project (at least as originally intended) is all but dead: the official trailer on the PlayStation channel has been delisted, and tweets by the main PlayStation account about the game have been removed (cached tweet here). 

Unfortunately, it's not at all surprising. Game seemed stuck in development hell at C-tier (at best) studios, and this all comes following the recent issues over at Embracer, which has seen the promise of more studio closures made following a ridiculous and - *shocker* - a completely unsustainable level of acquisition spending. 

Guess it's time for me to finally bite the bullet and play the Switch port which stupidly still hasn't made it to other platforms...

Got to imagine the project moves elsewhere now, but I'm really curious how the fine print works considering all of the parties involved.

If it's to remain a PlayStation exclusive, I think the absolute perfect scenario to wish for is that Bluepoint get a crack at modernising the game. It could be similar to what everyone wants/wanted them to do with Metal Gear Solid: same game, pretty much the same story (twisted to fit into Disney canon), new approach. Whatever they choose to do next with this project, and whatever form it takes, it'll surely print money. 

Larian would be an interesting pick after the success of BG3 if they actually wanted to go the CRPG route, but that seems unlikely. 

Edited September 29, 2023 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

Quote

The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake is dead. At least, that's what Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb had to say on Friday morning during his Game Mess Mornings show.

"I just want to clear it up, this game is not being worked on right now," Grubb said around the 57-minute mark. "Just full stop. This game is not being worked on in any way, at any studio."

He also mentioned that Sony want nothing more to do with the project. Man, what a disappointing mess this turned out to be.

[Julius]

20 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

He also mentioned that Sony want nothing more to do with the project. Man, what a disappointing mess this turned out to be.

Sucks, but the writing has been on the wall for a while, so not a total surprise. Can't blame PlayStation for wanting to bury the lead on this one, it looks like Embracer and everyone under them is in complete self-destruct mode after their hopes for a Saudi deal fell through, but with that in mind, it makes me even more surprised that PlayStation had a deal put in place for the game in the first place. I guess that's just how the business works, but it reminds me of the Like A Dragon business management mini-game, when you'd occasionally get an investment offer which sounds super sketchy – and, uh, I guess PlayStation decided they wanted in? 

I'd (naively) hoped that this would be the first time I experienced KOTOR for myself (I know the general beats from just growing up with it being a thing), so I guess I'll just need to get to work on the existing version of the game (which still hasn't been ported over to PlayStation, argh!). 

I'm really curious to see what the plan is now for KOTOR and just that era in general in the wider Star Wars scene, as nothing in the current slate has an Old Republic backdrop and so this was the only project being lined up in that timeframe. It's an ever bigger shame because when the Old Republic symbol turned up on the new timeline shown at Celebration this year, everyone rightly went wild – I can imagine a lot of those guys and girls are now pretty disappointed that we have no idea when we'll see another project related to the Old Republic again 

[Julius]

Hope lives in the galaxy? Maybe? According to Schreier, at least two people from Saber seem to still be on it: 

Can someone just come out and clearly communicate what the heck is going on at this point please?! I think it's dead but come on man, just have someone step out onto a podium and declare it to the world.

Please? 

Edited November 22, 2023 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

Two people still working on it?