It looks as if the remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic has shifted developers.
According to Bloomberg, the remake’s original developer Aspyr has reportedly been moved off its development, and now it is being handled by an Eastern European studio owned by Aspyr’s parent company, Saber Interactive. The remake was revealed last September in a PlayStation Showcase, and last month Aspyr reportedly told its staff that the project was “on hold” after the studio had been working on it for over the past two years.
Scoop: The highly anticipated Star Wars KOTOR remake has been moved from Texas-based Aspyr Media to a Saber Interactive studio in Eastern Europe.
Parent company Embracer hinted at the transition last week, and Bloomberg News can confirm it today: https://t.co/eK3W9RILHN
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) August 22, 2022
Bloomberg reports that both Disney and Sony were unhappy with Aspyr’s progress on the remake, which is a bad sign for a game that’s supposed to be a major PS5 console exclusive. The game still doesn’t have a public release date, although it was reportedly aiming to release by the end of this year initially. However, it’ll likely take much longer to finish, with Bloomberg claiming that the game needs at least two more years of development.
Saber Interactive is a developer and publisher under the larger Embracer Group umbrella. Last week, Embracer Group acquired a bunch of different properties within the gaming and entertainment space, including IP rights to The Lord of the Rings. During this time, Embracer also mentioned in its financial reports that it had switched developers on one of its AAA titles in order to make sure that it meets quality standards. Embracer Group didn’t specify what it was at the time, but now it’s very clear that Embracer was referencing the remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.