Star Wars game changes developers due to issues

The Knights of the Old Republic remake was handed off to another developer after the original was found to have issues in quality.

A remake of the beloved Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game has changed developers, from Aspyr Media to Saber Interactive, both of which belong to the Embracer Group. Rumours held that the game had been stuck in various stages of development trouble for a while.

Confirmed by Jason Schreier of Bloomberg News via Twitter, the remake has officially shifted its development to the Eastern European team Saber Interactive. Embracer Group, a mega-corporation that owns both Aspyr Media and Saber Interactive, recently stated via an earnings report that it isn’t “expecting any material delays” from shifting developers.

Originally, the delay was believed to be due to a disagreement in the direction the game was taking. Speaking anonymously, people familiar with the development cycle of the game, as well as Sony and Disney representatives, exclaimed that they were unhappy with Aspyr’s progress on the remake.

The original KOTOR used Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition rules in its gameplay. Picture: Lucasfilm

Aspyr had been working on the remake for two years already, but after the aforementioned negative response from higher-ups, put the project on pause while attempting to right the ship. It is unknown how much will change as a result of this transfer of ownership.

While no release date has been announced, and people familiar with the remake stating that it is minimum two years away from completion, the Knights of the Old Republic remake still generated a lot of buzz. KOTOR is arguably the most famous Star Wars video game aside from the Battlefront series, placing players in the role of a new Jedi who can follow several paths, choosing between the Light and Dark Sides.

Embracer’s most recent game, Saints Row, did not garner massive acclaim, generating average to below-average reviews. As a result, Embracer’s stock took a turn for the worst, falling 28% this year.

Embracer group also recently made several bids for a variety of companies, including a bid to obtain the Tolkien estate — including the Lord of the Rings IP and the Hobbit franchises, as well as anything related to Middle-Earth. This comes shortly after Embracer acquired several development studios from Square Enix, who believed the Western studios “cannibalised” Japanese game sales.

Written by Junior Miyai on behalf of GLHF.