Knights of the Old Republic (not necessarily) back in BioWare's hands

by Ludwig Kietzmann on Feb 13th 2008 10:40AM

Update: EA has responded to this post, saying their report does not actually confirm the existence of a Bioware KOTOR MMO. Original post below:

After a brief stint with Obsidian Entertainment in 2004, the Star Wars: Kuhniggets of the Old Republic franchise is set to return to the folks at BioWare. So says an EA investor report (yes, that one) which listed the game amongst BioWare's multiple ongoing projects. Mind you, it's listed simply as "KOTOR," so there's a small chance that the studio is actually working on Kleptomaniac on the Origami Recliner. That doesn't sound like something you'd collaborate with LucasArts on, though ...

While it doesn't preclude the possibility of the company working on more than one online game (or more than one KOTOR title), the separate listing of "new MMO" in the same report does cast some doubt on earlier KOTOR rumors. We'd prefer a single-player adventure over online organic meatbaggery, but perhaps you feel otherwise.

Source

Tags: Bioware, BreakingNews, EA, Electronic-Arts, Knights-of-the-Old-Republic, KnightsoftheOldRepublic, KOTOR, LucasArts, Star-Wars, StarWars, swtor

Reader Comments (47)

I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in joy. I feel something wonderful has happened.

CLASSIC!

I think it would be a real tragedy if KOTOR3 was an MMO.

It would also be a real tragedy if Kotor was EA-ized, with lackluster graphics, story, missions...

That is my favorite rpg of all time. Kotor 2, I must admit, I never finished. My xbox 1 broke and I never went back to it when I got 360. I should go and play it.

No one ever finished KoToR2 because Obsidian never finished it...

Bah! Jedi Knights Acadamy FTW.....

Besides, the New Republic is SOOOOO much more badass...

Yeah, Jedi Academy was kick ass but KotOR is actually an RPG. And sorry, but the Old Republic is much cooler than the New Republic because there were more Jedi.

Jedi Academy was a slight improvement over jedi Outcast, which was a massive drop from Jedi Knight.

Both JO and JA felt more like playing star trek games..

Until I get home to open my new PS3, this news has made my day.

I will buy this if there is only an option for:

- Store sales date broken

- "Rug Doctor" innuendo & scenarios between HK-47 and the Crushinator. "A woman that fine, you'll have to romance first!"

- FOX News bears a biased, knuckleheaded approach about the game, claiming it "SW fans sexually forced Trekkies to buy the SeXbox6969, Pr0nStation3(what a 'shocker'), and the Wii(no perverted alternate name necessary)just for this game".

Hell. Yes. Thank. God.

I went back and played the two Kotor games a few months ago, and a friend of mine was watching me play them every once in a while.
After I finished Kotor 1 and started the sequel, he was watching me play and said "Dude, this one looks like crap compared to the first one. This is supposed to be a sequel?"

So thank goodness for this piece of news. Now no matter how long we have to wait for KOTOR 3, at least it will be worth it.

Coming soon...

KOTOR 3: Elevator Action!

One of the higher tier force powers could be the ability to shut off the horrible muzak the Sith would undoubtedly pipe into elevators just to watch people suffer.

Also force push/pull to make the elevator go faster and keep all the textures from tearing.

If this were to go to MMO I can only say that I won't be there.

i love the kuhnniggits......long live Python!

hopefully the whole EA city state idea holds. cause i don't want another KOTOR2 kind of fiasco of releasing before it is ready.

that said. hopefully they stay in the spirit of Kotor. mass effect was a disappointment. the side quests were quite bland. all of them require you to go to a planet x to investigate/kill rebels y. also the good and evil choices need to be more different in effect. intimidate did the same effect as diplomacy.
we need more of the side quest like the guy is imprisoned in the desert by his own robots cause he was not faithfull to his wife. or the woman that had unnatural affection to her protocol droid.

we need more of the truly evil actions. like the double betrayal of the sith master appretice in Korriban. or making zaalbar kill mission vao.

KOTOR single-player adventure > online organic meatbaggery, any time of day.

Damn you Joystiq. This is my favorite pair of pants. Now it's all sticky.

Well, this is disappointing. KotOR 2 was a much better game ... minus,of course, the lack of polish an an ending.

Yeah... cos endings aren't important at all :-o

--

I get the sense that somewhere deep inside KoToR2 there was a good game, but the cuts just destroyed it. They neutered half the characters, made the storyline illogical, and made the whole thing really repetitive and pointless.

KOTOR is old and busted.

Mass Effect is the new hotness.

Seriously, why would anyone desire that Bioware restrict creative freedom by being held within the already-too-inflated Star Wars universe?

Yes, I know that they've allowed for a bit of freedom by setting the game thousands of years before the famous trilogy, but Bioware has its own epic franchise now.

I just don't see the point.

I just got SW:KOTOR last Sunday. I love it. If they want to make a 3, I'll be glad.

I listen to the Joystiq Podcast every week, and now when I see posts with stuff like "Kuhniggets of the Old Republic" or "That's What I'm Tolkien About," I think to myself, "Did Ludwig write this post?" Then I scroll up and sure enough, he did.

The only time I'd be able to spot a Justin McElroy post is if it contained the word "gigglebytes."

Not to mention "Kleptomaniac on the Origami Recliner"... Ludwig is definitely on a roll today.

FOOLED YOU!

Bioware is working on KOTOR, but it's Kittens of the Open Restroom.

Meow!

Oh man this just made my day! Any KOTOR from Bioware I will be happy with it!

Oh and Ludwig, what puns you have today!

My friend let me borrow the original KOTOR when I got the 360, I still have it and still haven't touched it.
Not that I didn't like the 5mins I played of it, I just have 4 other XB games, and 6 new 360 games....

(Guess I'm not used to being able to borrow games or having new ones come out all the time since my only last-gen console was the GC.)

You guys didn't quite "will" it into existence like I asked, but this is close enough! Thanks!

Do you really think we didn't pull strings to make this happen?! Well, pffft. Last time I will a game into existence for you!

This will be a day long remembered!

This is great news indeed! Obsidian would have turned out a great product if they didn't bend to LucasArt's call to rush the product, turning a game of promise into crap. With BioWare at the helm once again, it's restored my faith in another quality Star Wars game.

A KOTOR3 would be ever so lovely, BioWare... :)

I really like where they were clearly going with KOTOR 2, and the few gameplay adjustments they made were for the better. However, they DEFINITELY did not have enough time on the game, and released a very much unfinished project which they never even bothered to patch to completion.

I fired up KOTOR for a few minutes to compare it to Mass Effect and boy O boy are the graphics FUGLY. I know its a great game but I have become a shallow graphics whore. Now a pretty KOTOR 3 would make me happy.

KOTOR 2 was one of the most unfinished games I've ever purchased. Obsidian should never be allowed to touch a great franchise again.

I hope it doesn't come to the PS3.

And so this is how the waiting ends - with thunderous applause.

I'm excited now, KOTOR is one of my all time favorite games. Please not be an MMO. And if it's Kleptomaniac on the Origami Recliner, I'll still be excited.

In defence of Obsidian, it seemed that the game could've been really good but was rushed by the upper-level execs.

I will definately get KOTOR 3 if it is not a MMO game and if it has a real ending. I was shocked to see the credits run in KOTOR 2, I didn't even realize that I had just beaten the game.

I wouldn't mind seeing a KOTOR MMO for console, but I too would rather just play a standard single player KOTOR3.

Good. I knew the Sith would win.

Seriously, I played KOTOR one like 5 times in a row. But KOTOR2? There was something unlikeable about it, and I didn't finish it a second time! The only good part of it was Visas Marr!

I'd like to see a new KOTOR game as much as the next person but I've got a feeling that people just see what they want to see.

That screenshot looks more like a list of EA's studios/partners with the game titles they have licences for. Isn't it? Notice that KOTOR is listed as "KOTOR" (which is what BioWare had made) and not like "KOTOR 3", though "Mercenaries 2" is specifically listed with the 2.

And who exactly is that analyst and where's his report? All I can see at the eurogamer.net's link is EA's corporate profile and annual report. Not a word about neither KOTOR nor MMO.

Ah-ha! Just saw a post at BioWare's forum which confirms my suspicions:

"the picture with the bioware=kotor+mmo etc, is a slide from an EA Q+A to explain where EA stand against other companies in top game sales, not what games are being developed, I just listened to 2+ hours of the thing, and the only mention of Bioware is that EA will be looking in to Taking over the RPG market in the next few years..."

I just came buckets

Not that I didn't love KOTOR 1 but I'd much rather they kick ass making Mass Effect 2. I'm sure whatever they do in the Star Wars universe will be amazing, but Mass Effect really hooked me and I look forward to further adventures in that universe. If Bioware is going to make a new Star Wars game I'd rather they do it in the New Republic. That source material has gone untapped for far to long. Who better to make a game about this than one of the if not THE best developer in the States?

Uh...Technically thay are from Canada.

Well, let's think. If those were only games BioWare had the rights to, then Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur's Gate would be on that list. Besides, they don't have to call it "KOTOR III". It could be simply 'KOTOR: The Return of Revan', etc. However, all those other games are in progress, as we know there is a planned Mass Effect sequel.

Nice try, EA. We all know that KOTOR III is on its way. They don't want to announce it because it would steal thunder from Dragon Age, among other things.

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Knights of the Old Republic (not necessarily) back in BioWare's hands

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