Insider Sources Claim Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic Remake Indefinitely “Paused” Following Studio Layoffs
Ryan Pearson
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Sources claim that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake has been indefinitely delayed, as the developer allegedly made the decision to pause the project.
Source: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2021, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch), Aspyr Media
Bloomberg reports that, “according to people familiar with the project,” a demo of the game was shown to Lucasfilm and Sony on June 30th. Developer Aspyr — who had previously ported and re-released Star Wars games and more — were allegedly excited and felt the project was proceeding well.
However, the following week saw two directors fired: Art Director Jason Minor and Design Director Brad Prince. Around that time, Minor posted on LinkedIn, “I am looking for work. If anyone has some leads or suggestions, please DM me. Thanks. #OpenToWork.” Bloomberg proposed this was an indication of how sudden the news was to Minor.
Source: Jason Minor LinkedIn
The outlet reported that Aspyr studio heads reportedly told employees in a meeting the vertical slice wasn’t “where they wanted it to be,” and so the project would be “paused.” Bloomberg sources also claim there was a series of meetings through July and that the developer was looking at new contracts and development opportunities.
What was purportedly wrong with the demo wasn’t shared. One source suggested an excessive amount of development time and budget had gone towards it, with projections for the overall project no longer being sustainable.
In addition, while Aspyr had told developers and relevant partners the remake would launch by the end of 2022, other developers felt 2025 would be a more realistic goal. Neither Aspyr nor their parent company, The Embracer Group, responded to Bloomberg’s request for comment.
Source: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2021, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch), Aspyr Media
The Embracer Group acquired Aspyr in 2021 for up to $450 million. In May of this year the developer announced Saber Interactive would also be working on the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake.
While Saber had been brought aboard for outsourced work, the studio may end up taking over the game’s development in its entirety, anonymous sources at Aspyr claimed.
The holding company would certainly want the remake to reach their expectations, as the Embracer Group stated in their Q4 Report this May.
Source: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2021, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch), Aspyr Media
“Aspyr has gone full in to make this the best game that they can make,” board member Matthew Karch explained. “When we acquired Aspyr, we knew from the start that they would require our assistance- Saber has tremendous expertise in creating these types of products”
“We’re fully confident that the game is going to be fantastic but it’s a massive, massive product and massive products require a lot of effort and a lot of time to make good, and especially when you’re talking about a game already old, very old. We’ve basically had to remake that game from scratch,” Karch admitted. He told investors that they could expect to hear news about the remake “in the next several months.”
Source: Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic Remake
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