The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake is reportedly back in development… at a different studio. According to Bloomberg, one of Saber Interactive’s studios in Eastern Europe has taken over the project after it was put on indefinite hold by Aspyr Media in July. Aspyr had been working on the project for years and had industry veterans, as well as people who worked on the original game released back in 2003, on board. It even finished a demo of the game to show Lucasfilm and Sony on June 30th. But a week later, the company reportedly fired design director Brad Prince and art director Jason Minor.
The situation surrounding Prince and Minor wasn’t quite clear, but a source that talked to Bloomberg at the time suggested that the demo cost a disproportionate amount of time and money. Rumors reportedly circulated among Aspyr personnel that Saber Interactive, which has been doing outsourced work for the project, would take the helm. Those speculations may turn out to be true.
While neither developer has issued an official statement yet, mega game publisher Embracer may have alluded to the studio switch in its most recent financial report. Embracer, which owns both Aspyr and Saber Interactive, said one of its “AAA projects has transitioned to another studio” within the company. “This was done to ensure the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title,” it added.
Embracer also said that it’s not expecting any major delays as a result of the transition, but it’s not like the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake was scheduled for release in the near future anyway. It doesn’t have a launch date yet, and it will reportedly take at least two more years before it’s ready.