New Knights of the Old Republic: Here’s What We Know
Knights of the Old Republic is getting a remake, or reboot, or…something. Maybe.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was the first video game that really drew me into gaming as an 11-year-old girl in the early 2000s. Its story, its characters, its plot twist, all ignited a love and passion for roleplaying games and storytelling that followed me into adulthood.
This highly-acclaimed, highly-awarded 2003 game is still a fan-favorite among the Star Wars fandom, or even just RPG gamers in general. And when news broke of a new KOTOR game in development, ecstatic fans took to the internet to search for the truth behind this.
Upon further investigation, it turned out this “news” amounted to little more than some speculative rumors.
It’s not the first time rumors of a new KOTOR game have shaken the internet, but a few choice comments from industry figures indicate that there may be some credibility to these new reports…
Recent rumors
The most recent rumors of the potential game started circulating in force January 2021, after an episode of B.O.B the Podcast.
In the episode, Bespin Bulletin (a Star Wars news Twitter account) had this to say:
“Amongst my digging I hear that, yeah, there is a Knights of the Old Republic project in development somewhere. I talked to a couple people and I also found out that Jason Schreier — he said that it’s not with EA and ‘we’ll never guess’ who the studio is that’s making this game…
…If people don’t even wanna believe me (and I think I’ve got a pretty good track record)… Jason Schreier, he’s the guy of video games…you can’t get better than him.”
You can listen to the full podcast episode here (discussion of KOTOR starts at 1:05:28).
Three days after the episode aired, Bespin Bulletin followed up on Twitter, saying:
“People are still confused over the KOTOR thing.
What I said was I heard from some sources that KOTOR is happening, but not with EA. That’s it. That’s the scoop. Anything else I said on the pod is pure speculation.”
Jason Schreier — Investigative Game Reporter
Some digging uncovered the likely source of Bespin Bulletin’s Jason Schreier quote. In December 2020, Schreier (an investigative video game reporter) commented on a Reset ERA forum thread.
In the forum post, that was speculating on potential developers for the rumored game, Schreier commented:
“Nobody’s going to guess right that’s for sure”
A month after the B.O.B. the Podcast episode aired, Schreier further addressed the rumors on Twitter, saying: “Sorry, I just don’t like to share things unless I’m 100% sure about them, and I’m still doing some reporting on the KOTOR rumor. I’ll say this, though: if it’s really happening, it’s not at EA”.
Nate Nadja — Wushu Studios
The rumor was lent further credibility when Nate Nadja (aka Shinobi602) commented on another Reset Era forum thread.
Nadja is the communications manager of Wushu Studios, an independent UK-based game developer.
In response to theories about Schreier’s previous comment about the nameless studio, Nadja said:
“It’s not as mysterious as you think. It’s just not a household name most people are aware of.”
If Nadja is to be believed, then his fairly definitive comment would indicate that there are real plans for an upcoming KOTOR game.
Assuming a game is in development, the next big question is: by whom?
Speculation on possible developers
KOTOR was originally developed by Bioware, the studio acquired by Electonic Arts in 2008. As we know (according to Schreier), EA will not be involved in the development of the new KOTOR project thereby removing Bioware from the equation.
While all we can do at this time is speculate, there are a few lesser-known but successful studios whose names are repeatedly brought up across the web.
inXile Entertainment
Inxile Entertainment is an American game developer known for RPG series such as Wasteland and Bard’s Tale.
According to Xbox news Twitter account, Klobrille, inXile shared a job posting in January 2021 regarding work on an “ambitious, first-person AAA RPG…”
This lines up with a Windows Central report back in 2019 similarly relating to an inXile job listing regarding a “next-gen AAA…unannounced RPG project.”
Many fans have been speculating that this RPG could be the rumored KOTOR game. Unfortunately, both reported job listings have been closed and are no longer available to view online.
Furthermore, in 2018 Microsoft bought inXile (as well as Obsidian Entertainment who developed KOTOR II — which isn’t listed here as a possibility, as it seems too obvious a choice in light of Schreier’s comments). Considering both KOTOR I & II were originally Xbox exclusives, this tie to Microsoft gives some weight to inXile being the developer.
Theories about the upcoming AAA game may disprove this idea already, however:
- Reset ERA user GING-SAMA found several Pinterest boards created by inXile game directors containing hundreds of steampunk-inspired pins. Should this mysterious AAA RPG be a steampunk project, that would rule out KOTOR as their new title.
- A tweet from the inXile studio head showcasing their new office backs up this idea, as the office is heavily steampunk-themed.
Larian Studios
Larian Studios is a Belgian game developer most known for their Divinity series. They are also the studio behind the recently released early-access Baldur’s Gate III.
Interestingly enough, Wushu Studios (whom Nadja works for) were co-developers with Larian on Baldur’s Gate III.
Baldur’s Gate III is a Dungeons & Dragons game, with gameplay adapted directly from the D&D 5th Edition ruleset. Those familiar with tabletop RPGs would recognize that the original KOTOR gameplay mechanics were based heavily on a d20 system.
With Larian’s familiarity with this style of game mechanics (should the new KOTOR follow suit), they could be a valid choice for the project.
Additionally, the first two games of the Baldur’s Gate franchise were also developed by Bioware, already setting a precedence of Larian picking up past Bioware projects.
Going back to Nadja, when asked whether Wushu Studios was the mysterious developer involved, he responded: “I wish!”
So discrediting the idea that it is Nadja’s own studio, it stands to reason that he would have the inside scoop on a studio he’s working closely with.
Some things may disprove this theory already, however:
- Larian was already proposed as a possibility in the Reset Era thread prior to Schreier’s comment that ‘no one would correctly guess’. If Schreier really does know the studio and had read those comments, his response seems to indicate Larian would not be involved in this project
- Baldur’s Gate III has only been released in early access. With no full release date announced and the current Act I gameplay still under development, it seems the studio will be working on this title for the foreseeable future
Aspyr
Aspyr Media is an American game developer that made its name specializing in porting existing games to new platforms. The studio already has ties to several classic Star Wars games.
Aspyr was responsible for the mobile ports of KOTOR I & II, as well as bringing several titles — including Star Wars Episode I: Racer, Jedi Knight, and Republic Commander — to modern consoles.
In February of this year, Aspyr was acquired by Swedish holding company Embracer Group. In a video stream regarding the acquisition, some interesting things were said regarding Aspyr’s new projects:
“They also have some big internal projects that we can’t really discuss right now, that are based off of IP [intellectual property]…right now the focus is on licensed IP.”
Whether this focus is in relation to further ports of existing game titles or working on an entirely new project is open to speculation.
It was also stated that they are working on an approximately $70 million project, which they did not expand upon. Aspyr currently has a job listing regarding a “great AAA title.”
Most tellingly, in the same stream they even referenced the idea of KOTOR 3 directly:
“I know that we have a lot of questions on when Knights of the Old Republic 3 will come out (and other Star Wars ports) but I think I’ll leave them, actually, for this presentation.”
Any further discussion on potential projects was quickly shut down and not expanded upon.
Following up on reports that Aspyr has hired several ex-Bioware staff, I did a LinkedIn search of Aspyr employees. The search (only of profiles set to public view) yielded no less than 12 former Bioware employees that are now working for Aspyr since 2019.
While these employees’ timeline at Bioware doesn’t line up with them having worked on the original KOTOR games, several of them are listed as having done work for the related MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.
With all the compounded evidence, Aspyr would be my guess for any new KOTOR projects.
Final thoughts
A question still on everyone’s mind would be: Is it a remake? A reboot? A threequel?
Could we be seeing a Knights of the High Republic game?
While it seems likely that there is a new KOTOR installation on its way to us, unfortunately, there’s nothing to indicate the nature of the rumored-game at this point.
For now, we can satiate ourselves by replaying KOTOR I & II (both easily available now over Steam or even mobile) or jumping online for some MMO-action in The Old Republic.
