Fans of the classic Star Wars RPG series Knights of the Old Republic have been waiting for either a remake or the next installment of the series. For years, fans have been demanding a port for the titles that first released in 2003 and 2004. However, news of a third Knights of the Old Republic has surfaced, and one fan may have recently found evidence that a port for the original two titles may have been in development for a while now.
One Reddit user has put together a pretty solid case for the KOTOR ports being in development for years. The Star Wars fan did some deep digging and found clues that lead to one studio. The fan notes that in 2019, many positions at the developer of KOTOR, BioWare, were vacated, and over 20 former BioWare employees are currently working at Aspyr, a video game developer that has specialized in porting games.
Aspyr has also worked on games including Civilization 6, Layers of Fear, and The Observer. The studio was recently purchased by Embracer Group and has joined under the Saber Interactive label. While the recent purchase may not point to the development of a KOTOR port, the studio's history of porting games and helping with the re-release of both Star Wars: Jedi Knight titles may be telling.
The most telling evidence may be the job listing found on LinkedIn by the Reddit user. Many of the positions at Aspyr that were filled in 2019 include Art Director, Lead Narrative Designer, Cinematics Lead, Environmental Artist, Animation lead, and World Designer. The job listings have since been removed, indicating that the mystery project that may be KOTOR ports had started development. Considering that gaming industry insider Jason Schreier teased that Aspyr would be handling the remake last year, the evidence keeps building.
Aspyr did comment last year that the studio is working on a project based on an existing IP so it is very possible that the IP is KOTOR, however, the studio has not officially commented on the project since. While the purchase of Aspyr may shake things up a bit, it may also enable the studio to officially release its plans or start marketing for the title.
Since there has been no official announcement, the evidence pointing to Aspyr has to be taken as speculation. However, Knights of the Old Republic 3 is reportedly in development by a mystery studio. At least fans have the third title to look forward to, but more news about the future of the series is expected to emerge and is keeping fans at the edge of their seat.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is available now for PC and Xbox, the game is compatible with Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Reddit