It’s been awhile since we initially reported on the Knights of the Old Republic remake/remaster, despite posting some minor updates I’d heard on my Twitter account. As such, and considering some new(ish) information I’ve come across, I figured now was as good a time as any to provide a more formal update on the state of the beloved RPG.
First of all, I’d like to refresh your memory on my original report last year. I started out by stating my reluctance to comment on the news I’d heard, even though I had word from three entirely separate sources saying the same information. I’m always cautious in reporting on video game scuttlebutt. Even more so than the movie industry, gaming is a fickle beast and constantly shifting.
If we’ve learned anything from the litany of games that were planned but never happened (a few of which we’ve discussed here as well), even formally announced games aren’t a given. Things that were true at one point and “for sure” happenings, can be scrapped without notice. Even so, with three separate sources, I decided to run with the KOTOR story.
Obviously, some of that information turned out to get changed around. I’d initially heard the plan was to announce the game last year with a planned release for 2016 (this year). That didn’t happen, so today I’m going to offer updates on what’s currently going down. Before you start crying foul, one of these sources also confirmed to me one of the Star Wars Battlefront DLC’s would focus on Rogue One, which I said almost a year ago…
Anywho, let’s talk about what’s going on with Knights of the Old Republic. I’d heard things slowed down initially because the developers were mulling over some sort of console exclusivity between PS4 and Xbox One. From what I’ve heard, that’s actually still the case and continues to be one of the hold-ups.
It’s no secret that Microsoft wants KOTOR on the Xbox and it’s something Phil Spencer has talked about in the past. I’ve had two other sources tell me he’s actively trying to get it on the Xbox One, but this exclusivity conundrum is far from the only hiccup. The next setback came about due to EA’s launch of Battlefront.
Despite touting some early player numbers, EA wasn’t thrilled with the launch of Star Wars Battlefront. Critic and fan reaction to the limited maps and lack of single-player campaign consternated them, which caused a few things to shift. I heard a while back EA put a couple things on the back burner in order to divert more forces to making Battlefront more engaging for players with the subsequent DLC releases. I’ve heard this has shuffled around a few things actually, delaying some projects that were expected to release sooner.
Supposedly, this has caused some shuffling about and moving of one title forward, while 2 other #StarWars games may have been scrapped.
— Jordan Maison (@JordanMaison) April 1, 2016
For the last several months, I’ve been sitting in the dark along with other eager fans of the game. So when I got the latest update, it seemed the best time to post about it. The game is still kicking around, but the hold up now seems to be EA. You may remember just last month during Gamescom, in an interview with GameInformer, EA’s Patrick Soderlund made statements about the desire to do remastered versions of the Mass Effect trilogy. He went so far as to say there were “actively looking at it.”
Fans were understandably excited, but the jubilee was tempered just a couple weeks later when EA exec Peter Moore had this to say when asked about it: “We just feel like we want to go forward…Do we have teams lying around that are doing nothing right now, that can go and? No, we don’t. We want to focus on the future.“
What does this have to do with Knights of the Old Republic? The latest from my source is that this idea of always “looking forward” is becoming more and more of a mantra for the company and it’s causing some of the developers within EA umbrella to butt heads. What that means, is the remake/remaster of KOTOR is in a holding pattern along with Jade Empire, Mass Effect 1-3, and even KOTOR 2.
I can’t sit here and tell you that it’s for sure going to be announced at a specific time. The plans have changed as the internal struggle within EA itself has put it into stasis. I know, I’m not thrilled about it either and just as eager for this game as everyone else. I suppose for now, we can enjoy the knowledge that it is a thing that exists (I’ve had a total of four sources on this one since the initial report), though who knows when we’ll get our hands on it.
FINE. I can’t say much more (waiting for other details), but there are people playing #KOTOR right now on current systems. #StarWars
— Jordan Maison (@JordanMaison) December 4, 2015
-Jordan
