KOTOR remake returns for annual tradition of reminding you it’s still alive, but no you can’t hear anything more about it until it comes back next year to say it again

A long time ago (September 2021) in a galaxy far, far away (a PlayStation Showcase) the mad lads at Aspyr announced they were remaking Knights of the Old Republic, BioWare’s brilliant Star Wars RPG from 2003. Which probably wasn’t a great idea, because the project has spent the entire four years since then falling down the stairs and smashing into every step along the way.

First it was “delayed indefinitely” back in 2022, then Sony began scrubbing all reference to it off its own social media, then Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors straight-up refused to talk about it at a conference—like it was Voldemort or something—and then it showed faint flickers of life almost exactly a year ago, even if it was definitely delayed for at least one more year. Also, at some point in there it got taken off its original devs at Aspyr and handed over to new ones at Saber Interactive.

It’s enough of a calamity to give Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 a run for its money, but fear not! Saber has returned for its annual reminder that the game is, despite appearances, still alive. In a chat with Game File, Saber CEO Matthew Karch confirmed that, yes, the KOTOR remake was still in development somewhere in its offices, but that the studio wants to let Disney take the lead on talking about it.

Meanwhile over on X, Saber CCO Tim Willits recently took the time to emphasise that “Everything that we have talked about is still in development,” but that the studio will only “share information on upcoming games when we have something cool to share.” Which isn’t now, apparently, so I guess whatever Saber’s been doing for the last four years is officially uncool.

I kid, of course. I’m no game dev, but it seems like the last few years have been no picnic for the KOTOR remake (or, indeed, anyone even tangentially associated with the Embracer Group), and I don’t envy the devs the work they have ahead of them. Still, I do find it at least a little funny that a Star Wars game, of all things, has had to create a now-annual tradition of reminding everyone it’s still alive.

And hell, I’m still curious how the whole thing will pan out. I’ve long been on the record that I would rather have a subtle remaster of OG KOTOR—with gamepad support and 4K resolutions—than a full-on remake, but I’ll take what I can get. For KOTOR, there is no death, there is only the Force.