Summary

• The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake may be in trouble, as the game's trailer has been delisted with concerns of possible cancelation.
• The game's development has been turbulent, with reports of delays and changes since Saber Interactive took over from Aspyr.
• The game's fate could be tied to the financial struggles of Embracer Group, which is closing studios and canceling titles after a failed deal caused a significant drop in shares.

UPDATE: 2023/09/29 11:29 EST BY KYLE GRATTON

KOTOR Remake Trailer Delisted Over Licensing Issues

According to Kotaku, the trailer for the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic trailer was delisted from the PlayStation YouTube channel due to issues with a music license. A Sony spokesperson told Kotaku that delisting trailers is normal practice for the publisher when a music license within said trailer has expired.

Some new evidence has suggested that the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake could be in real trouble. The Embracer Group and Aspyr Media, the developer behind many Star Wars ports — including the original KOTOR on Nintendo Switch — announced the PS5 console exclusive remake as part of the September 2021 PlayStation Showcase. However, it has had a somewhat turbulent development since, with Aspyr's parent company, Saber Interactive, taking over development last year.

BioWare's original 2003 RPG title is heralded as one of the best Star Wars games of all time, telling a story set four thousand years before the era of the Galactic Empire. Following the fall of hundreds of Jedi Knights, the protagonist must defeat Darth Malak and his Sith armada while delving deeper into the lore of this time. Unfortunately, since 2003, much of this has become non-canonical with Disney's erasure of many of the old Star Wars stories outside the movies to make way for its own, but many were hopeful that KOTOR's remake could be a sign that Disney was willing to reincorporate KOTOR into its current continuity.

Related: Star Wars: Is KOTOR Canon?

The KOTOR Remake's Trailer Has Been Delisted

As spotted by Redditor KOTR remake has been delayed indefinitely as of July 2022.

A month later, there was some reassurance that the title was still in development at Saber Interactive, but there had been no news surrounding it in the year that followed. It is possible that the game has undergone enough changes since Saber took over from Aspyr that the old trailer had been removed due to becoming outdated, but some of the fan speculation on Reddit believes that a cancelation could tie into bigger issues at Embracer Group.

Related: Star Wars KOTOR: Which Ending Is The Best

Embracer Group Is Closing Several Studios

Embracer Group had spent several years acquiring game studios, but after an unannounced $2 billion deal fell through and caused its shares to rapidly drop by 40 percent, it announced that a financial restructuring would result in the closure of many of these, alongside laying off employees and canceling many titles that are currently in development. Saints Row developer, Volition Games, was one of the first to close, with an announcement on the official Volition X (formerly Twitter) confirming it would shut down immediately on September 1, 2023, not long after the studio celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Therefore, it's highly likely that the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake could be a casualty of this, especially with such a troublesome development. #SaveKOTOR is currently trending on X as fans are keen to show Embracer Group that there is still a huge interest in the title and that it is worth saving. Considering the cost behind developing a Star Wars title and how much money has likely been spent on the title already, it's possible that this may not be enough to encourage the studio in such a dire financial situation.

Sources: TricolorChutoy/Reddit, Volition Games/X, Kotaku