It’s Time for Knights of the Old Republic to Return

I suspect that many of you have already caught a showing of Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi or will be checking it out at your local movie theater during the holidays, and with each new movie entry, we inevitably start to ponder a world where a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic III or a KotOR reboot of some kind is in development. Such is the case with the editors at Hardcore Gamer, who are fervent believers (aren’t we all?) that it’s time for the franchise to return:

As much as fans love the KotOR series, the two entries have sold less than a combined five million units across the Xbox and PC. For just two games, that’s not too shabby, but it’s hardly enough of a fan base to hang a sequel on nearly fifteen years later. A remake of the original, or even both games, would be a fine way to both make the series accessible for today’s audience, and to maybe tweak a few plot points that Disney doesn’t want to effect their new movies. In fact, it looks like EA and BioWare felt the same way – it appears that a prototype for a remake or revival of the series was indeed being worked on by BioWare Austin (the team behind The Old Republic MMO). Unfortunately, this hot rumor is old, and it’s likely BioWare Austin has joined the primary BioWare studio in Edmonton on their upcoming new IP, Anthem.

Still, like BluePoint games remaking Shadow of the Colossus, Austin wouldn’t have to pull a complete restart on Knights of the Old Republic. The story, mechanics and character designs are all there. They would, of course, need to rebuild the game from the ground up for modern consoles and the PC, but with a solid working blueprint right in front of them, the development cost and time would be cut down significantly. The game hasn’t aged exceptionally well, so battle mechanics would need to be worked on as well as visual upgrades, but that’s in BioWare Austin’s wheelhouse too – they have been working on The Old Republic for the last six years, after all. They’re a natural fit to remake and realize the original KotOR, or perhaps even bring The Sith Lords back as well. Then, perhaps, another sequel would be in order.

Speaking of KotOR2: Obsidian is still alive and kicking. The Sith Lords was the first game they ever made, and considering they did so in less than two years, is a testament to their abilities as a development team. They’ve been hard at work on the excellent Pillars of Eternity games, and Tyranny, but it would be great to see them return to the KotOR games, and perhaps even take on the challenge of continuing its story into a third installment.