There are few things gaming has called for more than a new Knights of the Old Republic game. Sequel, prequel, reboot, whatever any executive could justify, people have wanted it. And just to get all our hopes up once more, talk of a new KOTOR is back on the menu.
It kicked off this week from B.O.B the Podcast, a podcast primarily focused on Star Wars, but also other games and TV series. Naturally, the chatter around Lucasfilm Games and new titles caught their eye.
In their latest episode, one of the hosts suggested that a new Knights of the Old Republic game was in development. And on Monday morning via Twitter, they clarified that the only confirmation they’d heard outside of development was that EA (and none of their associated studios, including Bioware) aren’t working on it.
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.https://t.co/mVr4RvFhhX
Pod: https://t.co/kL8PA7ilFu pic.twitter.com/HNdDtNVSya
— Bespin Bulletin (@BespinBulletin) January 24, 2021
EA are still working on their own Star Wars games — although their headline project later this year will likely be Battlefield 6, rather than a new Star Wars property.
The KOTOR development has been corroborated by a couple of other reporters and industry insiders. One of those was Wushu Studios’ Nate Najda, who said the studio responsible was “just not a household name most people are aware of”. And after looking into suggestions for years about a new KOTOR — and debunking said suggestions years ago when people believed EA was rebooting the series from its Austin studio — Jason Schreier posted just before Christmas that “nobody’s going to guess” who the developers are.
So it looks like there’s a genuine effort to get KOTOR off the ground. And we’ve been here before. BioWare Austin built a prototype, but the project wasn’t greenlit by EA.
But KOTOR still lived on in the wider Star Wars universe. Star Wars Clone Wars deleted a scene that would have introduced Darth Revan, a protagonist from the video game. Star Wars Rebels had some references to KOTOR in the third season, and LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy said the studio was doing “something” with the franchise back in 2019.
The excitement around KOTOR and a new sequel — or new anything — reminds me of the TIE Fighter/X-Wing appreciation that’s never died down. Star Wars Squadrons worked off that and built a modern version of those classic space operas. Fans just want to see another great RPG in the Star Wars space, even if it’s not a full AAA project.
It won’t be the same as an official announcement, but we should get word about how the Star Wars license is going soon from EA. The company’s next conference call is early next week, and it’s likely that investors will ask questions about what Lucasfilm Games and Ubisoft Massive’s new project means for EA’s relationship. That won’t answer questions about KOTOR, obviously, but it should give everyone some food for thought.
Leave a Reply