It seems the long-awaited return of the KOTOR series may be in a spot of trouble.
Off the back of months of speculation, Aspyr Media announced in September 2021 that the beloved Knights of the Old Republic would be seeing a remake for PC and PS5. Since that announcement, precious little information has been released for the title. That appears to be for good reason. Video game insider, Jason Schreier, has revealed that the title has been indefinitely paused.
In a lengthy piece for Bloomberg, Schreier reveals several key pieces of information about the title, and just how far along the game itself is. It transpires the port-heavy studio has been working on the game’s development for around 3 years, and recently produced a demo to showcase Lucasfilm and Sony. By all accounts, the development team were excited by the demo itself, so to learn that design director Brad Prince and art director Jason Minor would be fired only a week later came as a huge shock.
Schreier also reports that Aspyr’s studio heads informed the development staff that the demo wasn’t where they wanted the project to be, and that they would be making the decision to put the project on pause indefinitely. That came after spending “a disproportionate time and money” on the demo itself. Interestingly, it’s reported that Aspyr had committed to releasing the game in 2022, however staff at the studio suggest it’s more realistic to target 2025 at this stage.
This is the latest case of Star Wars seeing its share of turbulence in the video game space. Whether it’s the controversy surrounding the announcement of a title from Quantic Dream, partnering with Ubisoft following a probe into historical sexual misconduct, or the usage of loot boxes in Battlefront II requiring governmental intervention in some countries, it feels like the license can’t escape the spotlight no matter how hard it tries.
Fortunately, we shouldn’t have to wait too long before we’re back playing in the galaxy far, far away. With a slew of new toys announced at SDCC, you can expect a release date for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor in the not-too-distance future.
As ever, stay tuned to Dork Side of the Force for more information on everything Star Wars!