Fans waiting for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake has finally received a small sign of life regarding the project's status from Tim Willits, chief creative officer at Saber Interactive. The community has been eager for news of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic innovative since its debut nearly half a decade ago.
The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake first arrived today during a Sony PlayStation Showcase 2021, with the debut of a cinematic teaser. Initially, development was led by Aspyr Media, a team known for bringing classic titles to modern systems, but it quickly hit significant roadblocks. Over the years, the project moved between different studios under the Embracer Group umbrella, leading to widespread speculation as to whether the game would ever see the light of day or if it had been abandoned entirely.
Old development images from Aspyr's KOTOR Remake Surface Online
Images from Aspyr's version of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake are surfacing, hinting at what the game would have looked like.
A short but important progress report
The silence was finally broken during a recent conversation between IGN and Willits. When asked about the future of the massive RPG, Willits gave a brief but definitive answer: “Yes, it's still in development. That's all I can say.” While this isn't the deep dive or gameplay many were hoping for, it does confirm that the project is still alive and well at the studio, even if they aren't ready to show off anything new just yet.
This update has been a long time coming, as these annual check-ins have become a bit of a running joke within the community. Since the 2021 announcement, there have been similar brief confirmations in 2023, 2024 and 2025, but very little actual gameplay footage has been seen. For a title being rebuilt from the ground up for PlayStation 5 and PC, the lack of visual updates has left many loyal followers nervous about the final outcome.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic's the development history is complicated. The problems began in mid-2022 after a vertical disc demo was shown to partners at Sony and Lucasfilm. While the developers were reportedly pleased with the progress, the studio heads at Aspyr felt that the project did not meet the necessary standards. This led to the firing of key executives, including design director Brad Prince and art director Jason Minor. Shortly after, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was moved to Saber Interactive in August 2022. This transition meant that Saber inherited whatever state the game was in at the time, and they have been working to stabilize production ever since.
More recent rumors have suggested that development may have shifted yet again or expanded to other teams. In late 2025, Stephen Totilo reported that the reins may have been transferred to Mad Head Games, the team currently working on Hellraiser: Revival. The same report also brought up exciting, but distant, plans for a remake of the sequel. Douglas Reilly, vice president of Lucasfilm Games, confirmed that they had discussed a project codenamed “Juliet.” Reilly described it as a plan to “do a complete remake of KOTOR II with modern art, modern gameplay”, while keeping the original characters and story for modern machines. However, it seems unlikely that work on a sequel will pick up until the first remake is much closer to completion.
Ambition for the remake remains high, despite many delays and changes in leadership. Producer Ryan Treadwell has previously said the aim is to rebuild the title “from the ground up using the latest technology” to ensure it stands alongside the best modern releases. Fans are especially curious to see how the battle will be updated. Earlier rumors suggested that the team could offer two different battle modes to satisfy both old fans of the original's “real-time with pause” system and newcomers who prefer modern action. But since the developers are so secretive, the question now shifts to whether 2027 will continue this trend of vague updates.
While the news is minimal, the confirmation from Willits keeps hope alive for one of the most beloved stories in Star Wars galaxy. This assurance is important for a community that has seen many high-profile projects disappear or be delayed indefinitely in recent months. For now, players will have to be content with the knowledge that the project hasn't been scrapped and that the team at Saber Interactive is still “dedicated to making sure we exceed consumer expectations.” Whether we'll see a full trailer later this year or simply another confirmation next spring is uncertain, but for many, even a small update is better than total silence.
- Released
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July 15, 2003
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Violence
