One of the Embracer Group’s AAA games has “transitioned” to another developer, some assuming it’s the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake.
Sources had previously claimed that despite a demo seemingly being warmly received by Lucasfilm and Sony, Art Director Jason Minor and Design Director Brad Prince were laid off the following week. Minor did post on LinkedIn that he was looking for work, around the time he was allegedly fired.
Studio heads at developer Aspyr reportedly told employees the demo wasn’t “where they wanted it to be,” and the project would be “paused” indefinitely. In addition, some employees reportedly believed that Saber Interactive — brought on to assist with the project in May — would be taking over development entirely.
The Embracer Group — who acquired Aspyr in 2021 for up to $450 million — gave a small scrap of what may be happening in their Interim Report Q1. The section of note came when discussing upcoming Triple-A titles.
“One of the Group’s AAA projects has transitioned to another studio within the Group,” Embracer revealed. “This was done to ensure the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title. We are not expecting any material delays for the title based on this transition.”
It should be noted The Embracer Group stated in February via a prior Interim Report that “Our pipeline now has more than 25 AAA development projects planned for release until March 2026 with the potential to drive significant organic growth.”
After acquiring Square Enix subsidiaries Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montréal, and Square Enix Montréal in May, the Embracer Group also announced they would have a “Pipeline of 230+ games with more than 30 AAA titles.” As such, there’s no guarantee this “transitioned” game is the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake.
Bespin Bulletin highlights how no delay from the late 2022 release date was mentioned, but they “and others have heard within the past year of a 2024 release being a target.” Other developers from the original source reportedly felt 2025 was a more realistic release date.
Back in January of this year, it was rumored the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake would alter the original game’s combat — along with being a complete remake from the ground up — as Aspyr job listings sought for a Combat Designer role. This suggested the remake would have a more action-orientated combat system, rather than the real-time turn-based system where players could pause to issue commands if they wished.
What do you think? Do you have more faith in Saber Interactive than Aspyr? What are your hopes for the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake? Let us know on social media and in the comments below.
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