During a recent Embracer Group earnings call, CEO Lars Wingefors was asked about the status of the long-in-development Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake, and actively avoided giving a firm answer. “I noticed that anything I say to this becomes a headline,” Wingefors replied. “So that is my only comment.” Following this statement, one games industry insider has alleged the ‘no comment’ was delivered as the game is no longer in development at all.
Per reporter Jeff Grubb, who has become known for accurate insider reporting, while Embracer has invested heavily in the project, reportedly hauling in multiple studios to work on it, the KOTOR remake has now hit a significant roadblock.
While it was first in development at Aspyr, and then worked on by Saber Interactive, it’s now believed to have been shelved entirely due to dissatisfaction with development progress and quality.
Read: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake reportedly changes studios
“The rumour was that it got taken away from Aspyr, which has done a lot of these Star Wars remasters, and moved over to Saber Interactive,” Grubb said on a recent episode of Game Mess Mornings. “There have been rumours that it’s moved elsewhere since then. I just want to clear it up – this game is not being worked on right now, full stop. This game is not being worked on in any way at any studio.”
The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake was initially announced in 2021 with a cinematic trailer generating much excitement about the potential impact KOTOR could have on modern gaming audiences. The original game remains beloved, and while it is fairly dated from a technical perspective, its narrative and scope are still very impressive.
It’s part of the reason why the initial KOTOR remake announcement was met with such fervour – and why Grubb’s allegations are so disappointing. While the project had reportedly experienced a number of challenges in its early development journey, with 2022 reports describing a game with rampant quality and staffing issues, there was still hope it would make it through this journey unscathed.
But with Grubb alleging the game has now been shelved, and considering that Embracer Group recently announced the cancellation of at least 15 mystery game projects, the future for the KOTOR remake looks more uncertain than ever. At this stage, it’s unclear when Embracer Group will speak more on this project.
[Update 22 November 2023] Shortly after Grubb’s report, investigative journalist at Bloomberg Jason Schreier shared that according to two of his sources, Saber Interactive is allegedly still working on the KOTOR project. “Can’t say whether the KOTOR Remake will ever actually come out,” he remarked, “But yes, two people from Saber Interactive tell me they’re still on it, despite recent rumors that nobody is working on the game.”]
