Star Wars KOTOR remake is still in development at Saber Interactive, even after recent sale

Like others, we had high hopes for the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake project until it seemingly ran into one development issue after another. Announced back in 2021, with Sony's full backing, the PC and PlayStation 5 exclusive would remake and rebuild one of the greatest BioWare RPGs in a modern engine with modern cinematic visuals.

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Our original concerns stemmed from the fact that the ambitious project fell under the umbrella of the Embracer Group, with one of its smaller studios - Aspyr - leading development. Aspyr, best known for porting older Star Wars games to platforms like the Nintendo Switch, hadn't tackled a project of this size and scope before.

In 2022, Embracer announced that development had shifted to Sabre Interactive, a studio with a fairly consistent track record. Since then, the industry has been tumultuous, with layoffs and cancellations. Embracer Group recently sold Saber Interactive, "one of its best-earning games divisions," for $247 million.

The deal also involved studios like 3D Realms and Metrox Exodus developer 4A Games. Where does this leave the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake? Apparently, it is still in development at Sabre Interactive, With Bloomberg's Jason Schreier (who has broken many KOTOR remake stories over the years) confirming on X that as part of Embracer offloading Saber - the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake is going with them.

Lucasfilm Games and Sony are invested in the project; however, at this stage, there's very little evidence that development is progressing at a pace that would see the game released anytime soon. During a recent conference call, Embracer's CEO Lars Wingefors was asked about an unnamed AAA title based on a major license that many believe to be the KOTOR remake. He said it wouldn't be released within the next 12 months and that there's "some time left until that game is released."

It sounds like the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake was announced straight after the deal was made to begin development, so it could be the sort of game we keep hearing about every now and then for several years until it's officially revealed (with gameplay) and released.