In 2003, BioWare and LucasArts releasedStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicon PC and Xbox, with the game earning widespread critical acclaim and quickly recognized as arguably the finestStar Warsgame ever made. The next year, Obsidian Entertainment released a sequel that, while not quite as well-received as the first game, still earned rave reviews and strong sales. Since then, fans have been waiting patiently forStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3, but the game has never been announced.
Considering the popularity of the first twoKnights of the Old Republicgames, some fans may be scratching their heads as to whyStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3still has yet to be developed. Well, there’s a few reasons why fans haven’t seenKOTOR 3yet, but even though they’ve been waiting well over a decade at this point, there’s still hope that the game will one day materialize.
Why Knights of the Old Republic 3 Hasn’t Happened
After BioWare shippedStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, it started work on a number of other projects, including the martial arts-themed RPGJade Empire, as well asSonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhoodfor the Nintendo DS and its blockbuster sci-fi franchiseMass Effect.Mass Effect, in fact, can be seen as somewhat of a successor to theKnights of the Old Republic, and may be partially to blame forKOTOR 3’s continued absence.
Mass Effectwas headed by Casey Hudson and writer Drew Karpyshyn, who previously collaborated onKOTOR.Mass Effect’s sprawling sci-fi universe was likely inspired by theStar Warsfranchise, as was the choice to make it an epic saga across a trilogy of games instead of a singular release. WithMass Effect, BioWare could capture the audience that it reached withKnights of the Old Republic, but do so with an original IP that would offer greater benefits for the studio in the grand scheme of things.
Simply put,Mass Effect’s existence madeKnights of the Old Republic 3redundant. From its combat system to its basic features and mechanics, it’s clear thatMass Effectwas heavily inspired by BioWare’s previous work onKOTOR, and it wouldn’t have made sense for BioWare to move forward withKnights of the Old Republic 3at that point in time.
With BioWare busy working on games like theMass Effecttrilogy and its newDragon Agefranchise,Knights of the Old Republic 3never got off the ground. However, that didn’t mean BioWare was done withStar Warsor the titular “Old Republic” just yet.
Rumors and Remakes
In 2011, BioWare launchedStar Wars: The Old Republic, an MMO set in theStar Warsuniverse. While not quiteKnights of the Old Republic 3,The Old Republicis the closest thing fans have gotten to the long-awaited sequel so far. In recent years, the game has been supported by BioWare Austin, who has continued pumping out expansion packs as early as last year.
BioWare Austin, by the way, has beenrumored to be working onKOTOR 3in the past. In fact, industry insider Liam Robertson claimed as much earlier this year, only to later redact his statement. While it’s possible Robertson misspoke, BioWare Austin’s continued work onStar Wars: The Old Republicshows that it has experience with theKnights of the Old Republicsetting, and with the main BioWare studio busy on a new sci-fi action RPG calledAnthem, it would make sense for BioWare Austin to lead the charge onKOTOR 3’s development.
If BioWare Austin isn’t developingKnights of the Old Republic 3, maybe it is working on a full-fledged remake of the original game. After all, there was a rumor a couple of years back that aKnights of the Old Republicremakewas in the works, though if such a project does exist, nothing has been announced.
With nothing but rumors and speculation to go by, manyKOTORfans have given up hope that they will ever seeKnights of the Old Republic 3. However, new hope for the game came in 2012, when Disney shook the entertainment industry at large to its very core.
A New Hope
In 2012, Disney shocked the world by purchasing LucasArts fromStar Warscreator George Lucas to the tune of $4.06 billion. The company immediately got to work on its plans to revitalize the franchise, beginning development on new film projects, video games, novels, TV shows, and more.
Then in 2013, Disney made the decision to step away from console and PC game development, entrusting theStar WarsIP to Electronic Arts. EA immediately started assigningStar Warsvideo game projects to its biggest studios, with DICE set to work onStar Wars Battlefrontand Visceral given an ill-fatedStar Warssingle player game. With EA now in control ofStar Warsvideo games, it means now is more likely than ever that BioWare could finally start development onStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3.
There are a few other interesting developments that should give fans some hope that they will eventually see aKOTOR 3announcement. For one, major BioWare talent that worked on the original game have returned to the studio.Knights of the Old RepublicwriterDrew Karpyshyn has come out of retirementto work onAnthem, and director Casey Hudson is back at the company as well, currently serving as its general manager.
With a couple of the most important people that worked on the originalKOTORback at BioWare under the EA umbrella, it stands to reason that the studio may be even more interested in makingKOTOR 3than ever before. However, some fans may be worried that Karpyshyn and Hudson returning to BioWare doesn’t mean much since Disney restructuredStar Warscanon, retroactively making almost all non-film and televisionStar Warsproducts non-canon, includingKOTOR.
On the contrary, Disney seems to have some respect forKOTORand as a result,The Old Republicsaga in general may still be canon. There’s some evidence that speaks to this, namely withStar Wars Rebelsreferencing the Mandalorian Wars. For the uninitiated, the Mandalorian Wars were a conflict thatKOTOR’s plot revolves around, and if that event is still canon, it seems as though everything inKOTORis also canon.
And finally, there’s one more reason whyKnights of the Old Republicfans should have some hope that they will one day seeKnights of the Old Republic 3. The first game in the series is now playable on Xbox One, thanks to the console’sbackward compatibility with original Xbox games. While that may not necessarily mean much, it does show that EA is interested in making the game more readily available to modern gamers, and if the game proves popular enough on the service, it could prove to the higher-ups thatKOTOR 3would be a profitable endeavor.
Will we ever getKnights of the Old Republic 3? Right now, it’s hard to say one way or another. However, it’s more likely now than it was five years ago. We don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, but all the pieces are in place for aKOTORcomeback, and it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see the game finally announced at a big gaming event like E3 within the next couple of years.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3is not currently in known development for any platforms.
