There is renewed concern for the status of the troubled Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake after fans spotted trailers and other promotional material was pulled from the internet.
X user @Crusader3456 flagged that the 2021 Playstation Showcase trailer for the KOTOR remake was set to private, and posts published by Sony on official social media channels were pulled.
Playstation has officially hidden the 2021 reveal trailer for Star War: Knights of the Old Republic on YouTube. You can see the Trailer is clearly in the full 2021 Showcase Playstation Showcase but the individual Trailer has been hidden.https://t.co/2WPn4ib2C8
— Crusader II Elessar (@Crusader3456) September 28, 2023
Using the Wayback Machine, you can see the tweet did exist. last snapshot taken was in 2022. https://t.co/QuZ0Zavuch
— Crusader II Elessar (@Crusader3456) September 28, 2023
Last year, development on the KOTOR remake was reportedly paused indefinitely after disappointment over progress made with the hotly anticipated RPG. A demo built by Texas-based studio Aspyr apparently failed to impress when shown to Lucasfilm and Sony, which led to development being put on hold. The remake’s art director Brad Prince and design director Jason Minor subsequently left the project.
The KOTOR remake was then moved from Aspyr to World War Z and Space Marine 2 developer Saber Interactive. Both studios are owned by parent company Embracer, which is currently closing studios, canceling games, and letting go of staff amid a punishing restructure.
Aspyr had worked on the KOTOR remake for three years before it was finally announced in Sony’s 2021 PlayStation Showcase, where it was revealed that original voice actor Jennifer Hale would be returning as Bastila Shan.
At the time, it was set to be released as a PC and PlayStation 5 console exclusive and was touted as a full remake developed from the ground up. Originally developed by BioWare, Knights of the Old Republic has consistently been regarded as one of the best Star Wars video games and western RPGs.
According to reports, Aspyr was targeting a late 2022 release date for the remake but insiders suggested 2025 was a more realistic target. It’s now even more unclear how this project will continue. IGN has asked Sony and Embracer for comment.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
