The Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Remake has been indefinitely delayed, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reports.
Developed by Aspyr Media, the highly-anticipated remake was officially announced last year, but Bloomberg now reports that the project has been put and that the game’s design and art directors have unexpectedly been fired. According to people familiar with the project, development of the game was put on hold after the team presented a demo, known as the “vertical slice”, to Sony and Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC.
“The Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic remake is indefinitely delayed, Bloomberg has learned”, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier wrote on Twitter. “Developer Aspyr abruptly fired two directors this month and told staff that the project is on pause as it tries to figure out what comes next.”
According to Bloomberg’s report, it’s not yet clear as to what will become of the remake, but some believe that Aspyr’s parent company, Embracer Group, will be handing to project over to one of its other subsidiaries – Saber Interactive.
“On June 30, Aspyr finalized a demo of the game, known as a vertical slice, to show to production partners Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC and Sony Group Corp”, Bloomberg’s report reads. “The developers were excited about it and felt like they were on track, according to a person familiar with the project, so they were shocked by what happened next.”
“The following week, the company fired design director Brad Prince and art director Jason Minor. Neither responded to requests for comment, but Minor suggested on a social media page that his dismissal was unexpected.”
Aspyr’s studio heads told staff that the vertical slice wasn’t where they wanted it to be and that the project would be paused, according to two people who were in the meeting. One person familiar with the discussions suggested that a disproportionate amount of time and money had gone into the demo and that the project’s current course wasn’t sustainable. Another point of contention may be the timeline. At the outset of development, Aspyr told staff and partners it would release the game by the end of 2022, according to two people familiar with production. Developers said a more realistic target now would be 2025.
The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake for both PlayStation 5 and PC was officially announced during Sony’s PlayStation showcase back in September of last year. A release date was yet-to-be-announced.
