Earlier this year, there were rumors saying that the highly anticipated "Star Wars KOTOR" remake was delayed indefinitely. Now, the Embracer Group (the parent company who owns the IP), has gone out to say it is, in fact, not delayed.
As reported by PC Gamer, Embracer just says that the project just transitioned to another studio within the group of companies they already own. They also mentioned how they're not expecting "any material delays" for the game because of the shakeup. To cap things off, they said that the delay was just to make sure the game's quality is up to snuff. So there you have it, straight from the [multi-billion-dollar] horse's mouth.
By "up to snuff," this could probably link to how the higher-ups within Embracer Group took a vertical slice of the "Star Wars KOTOR" remake presented to them recently. It was reported that they weren't too impressed. A "vertical slice" of a game, for the uninitiated, refers to a short demo featuring all of the game's mechanics at work.
Since the suits weren't feeling the demo, the developers behind the "Star Wars KOTOR" remake said they weren't expecting to finish the game until 2025. But perhaps that was because they had to tear everything apart and build it back up. With a new developer, there might be a fresher perspective that could help the development out along.
You can check out the report from Embracer if you're keen on reading about the details.
News (or rumors, rather) of the delay was broken out by renowned insider Jason Schreier of Bloomberg. His sources told him, among other details, that developer Aspyr has actually already fired two directors from the project:
NEWS: The Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic remake is indefinitely delayed, Bloomberg has learned. Developer Aspyr abruptly fired two directors this month and told staff that the project is on pause as it tries to figure out what comes next. https://t.co/3NUlKkenR6
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 26, 2022
Either way, things haven't really looked up since the first trailer for the remake was released. It was a cinematic trailer that didn't offer much beyond mood, released during a PlayStation Showcase last year. Here it is:
Who Is The Embracer Group?
To say that Embracer is more or less a multi-billion-dollar group of companies looking to own almost every major creative IP, including video games, is an understatement. Because that's exactly what they seem to want to do, even if they currently don't own everything yet.
According to The Verge, Embracer is a Swedish holding company comprised of 11 parent companies. These companies are then again separated into a few more, each of which owning different publishers and game developers who have the rights to both indie and triple-A game franchises. Their most recent big acquisition was the rights to the "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit." But whatever they plan to do with those is still unclear.
For now, they do own a lot of major gaming IPs, and they're just getting started. They already own the rights to "Saints Row," "Borderlands," and "Valheim," alongside other ones like "Deus Ex," "Duke Nukem," and "Tomb Raider" to name a few. So it's not quite something like EA or Activision Blizzard in scope, but they're getting there.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
