The The Mandalorian or the big Investor Day announcements. The video game department has seen some potentially exciting new developments surface, both official and rumored. Lucasfilm announced that they're reviving the spirit of the LucasArts brand through Lucasfilm Games, and the reveal that Ubisoft is in charge of a new open-world, story-driven Star Wars game soon followed.
Though most thrilling is the latest rumor suggesting that a canon revival of Knights of the Old Republic is currently in the works. The original two KotOR are beloved and revered classics in their own right. A new installment is exciting for a multitude of reasons.
Re-Canonizing The Era At Large
Technically speaking, the Old Republic could be said as part of canon as an era--but in select pieces. The era is largely relegated to the realm of "Legends" branding, which essentially sugarcoating it being non-canon. Since that was done when Disney acquired Star Wars, it understandably incited disappointment among fans as Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords are often regarded as the best games in the franchise, as well as some of the best RPGs.
The High Republic is getting major focus as the next era to explore--mostly in books--so it seemed a missed opportunity to officially reintroduce the fan-favorite Old Republic. A KotOR reboot could be a fantastic first step in rebuilding that era's best aspects.
Proper Reintroduction Of Revan
Going hand-in-hand with the Old Republic world at large is the proper reintroduction of a beloved character in Revan. His character arc was among the best narrative parts of the first Knights of the Old Republic game, and the big reveal of the player being him the whole time was loved back in 2003.
Revan has a great, expansive amount of lore associated with him as being prominent as both Jedi Knight and Sith Lord. The visual dictionary for The Rise of Skywalker did--in-part--make him canon, but this was an unfulfilling, crumb-sized piece of fan service that doesn't satisfy the long-time fans that actually want to see him in a significant way, and a new game giving him a canonized version of his story seems like a no-brainer.
A Long-Awaited Star Wars RPG
It seems like ages since fans have gotten a proper Star Wars RPG--probably because it has been, in a sense--and the Old Republic is largely known for the RPGs it spawned including The Old Republic MMORPG. It is incredible fans haven't gotten one in so long considering that the Star Wars universe is a vast sci-fi fantasy one, making it prime for more than one game of this genre.
The Old Republic is so separated from the widely-known eras of the franchise, given its thousands of years in difference, so it naturally makes it primed for enough large or small-scale long-running stories in a series of RPGs. This is a chance to create a new Star Wars legacy akin to the Skywalker Saga in a different on-screen medium.
New Publisher, New Developer
Chaining the Star Wars IP to EA was an awful choice--at least in hindsight--for putting out plenty of high-quality games. Since acquiring exclusive rights to the license for games nearly eight years ago, EA has only released a few well-received, major games in Jedi: Fallen Order, Squadrons, and Battlefront II if you count the dev it's gotten in the years post-launch to make it a good experience.
Another big piece of these reports is the fact that it's apparently outside of EA. Recent developments heavily suggest Aspyr Media, now acquired by Embracer Group, are in charge of it. Additionally, it's allegedly a triple-A RPG with a budget of ~$70 million. Aspyr fits the bill of being an unexpected pick, and their recent ex-BioWare hires add fuel and excitement to this.
Potential Series
Beggars can't be choosers, but aside from KotOR actually getting a revival after 16 years since The Sith Lords, some potentially fantastic news that could stem from this is for the project to be the start of a series. This definitely depends on the success of this reported game that fans know next to nothing about, but if the high quality is clear at launch, players may get a proper, full-blown KotOR series that fits into the official canon.
Of course, the priority is to make the initial game a critical and commercial success in its own right, but a world as beloved as the Old Republic deserves more than a one-off. The galaxy has room for both the High and Old Republics.
Open-World
With the KotOR games being 16-17 years old, and technology in gaming advancing far beyond them, a hypothetical open-world setting--and an RPG--sounds tantalizing. Gaming has seen open-worlds with beautiful scenes that bring immersion to the forefront by bringing the environments and characters within them to life.
A universe like Star Wars certainly has the potential to have something on the level of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Horizon Zero Dawn by default--with enthralling main and side quests--but that depends on developers. Open-world has its own downfall, as bloat can easily become a problem if mishandled, but the rewards could be great if executed effectively.
Prominent Jedi & Sith
The High Republic focuses on the premise of the Jedi at the pinnacle of their galactic power and influence, as they and the Republic go through a renaissance of sorts. They're likely greater in numbers than even the prequels. Meanwhile, the Old Republic, at least the main two games, use an era where both Jedi and Sith are front and center.
The stories explore the duality of the two, as well as some of the things that make them similar. While far apart in ideology and in how they train in the Force, they're two sides of the same coin, and that kind of dynamic would make a great modern, canon triple-A RPG narrative.
Morality System
Among the most notable features of KotOR/II is the morality system. It's easily a great RPG gameplay feature to have for character customization and branching dialogue and story beats, though Star Wars has a very obvious bonus for having a mechanic like this.
Aligning yourself to the Dark Side of the Force eventually allows you to become a Sith, complete with red lightsabers. Should this truly be a KotOR revival that's a triple-A RPG, this needs to return. Playing a modern Star Wars game on PS5, Xbox Series X, and high-end PCs letting you be a Sith Lord, altering the way the story progresses and how your character plays would give fans cause to rejoice further.
Enhanced Lightsaber Combat
The original games certainly had a different approach to combat, so a new game would need to freshen and change things to make a modern-day, blockbuster-level Star Wars game. The originals would be tough for some new players to enjoy who didn't already grow up on them, so refined, real-time action would likely be better for broader appeal.
Thankfully, one of the strengths of Fallen Order was its lightsaber combat, which allowed for a degree of style and situational mix-ups on a strategic level when encountering enemies. With that as a foundation, a KotOR reboot building off that would be more than welcome.
Jumping-Off Point For Movies & TV
Though not directly related to the potential game itself, a new Old Republic-set game could be the start for deeper exploration elsewhere. And that "elsewhere" could be the franchise's primary medium. Star Wars is predominantly a movie franchise, though live-action TV has taken larger shares of importance lately.
If this possible game and any sequels it may spawn be set thousands of years in the past like in Legends, it gives plenty of opportunities to create stories for film and TV. It'll build a bridge for fans deeper into the lore to enjoy games and movies/shows and simultaneously for those unfamiliar and/or not into KotOR/gaming.
