Embracer confirms studio switch for ‘AAA project’, following claims of KoTOR trouble

videogameschronicle.com:

Embracer Group may have confirmed that the upcoming Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake has switched developers.

Bloomberg claimed last month that developer Aspyr Media had stopped working on the game and that the future of the title was up in the air.

Embracer had confirmed in May that Aspyr parent company Saber Interactive was also working on the game, and some of Bloomberg’s sources said they believed it was possible Saber had taken over the development of the project entirely.

While not mentioning the title by name, on Thursday, Embracer confirmed that one of its big upcoming releases had changed developers.

“One of the Group’s AAA projects has transitioned to another studio within the Group,” the company said. “This was done to ensure the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title. We are not expecting any material delays for the title based on this transition.”

Announced last September for PS5 and PC, the game had been in development for three years at Austin, Texas-based Aspyr, which originally planned to have it ready for release by the end of 2022.

Bloomberg’s report claimed Aspyr fired the game’s former design director Brad Prince and art director Jason Minor in July.

The pair were reportedly dismissed shortly after the studio finalised a demo of the game to show to its production partners Lucasfilm and Sony.

Aspyr’s studio heads are said to have informed staff that the demo hadn’t met internal expectations and that work on the game was being paused, with the company planning to seek new development opportunities.

One Bloomberg source suggested too much time and money had been invested in the demo and that a more realistic release window now would be 2025.