Shack Chat: What developer do you want to make a new KOTOR?

It’s Friday, which means it is time to pick the brains of all the staff members here at Shacknews.

Last week we talked about our favorite video game hitmen, but this week we're going full Star Wars. With the rumors of a new KOTOR swirling around, we all decided to put on our tinfoil hats and talk about who we’d love to see making the next game in the series. 

Question: What developer do you want to make a new KOTOR?

Obsidian Entertainment - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Bounty Hunter

Here's the funny thing about Obsidian taking the reins of a new Knights of the Old Republic. They already have experience with this series. For those younger players who have only heard of KOTOR as a BioWare joint, this is where you learn that Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords was actually Obsidian's debut title. A new KOTOR would be a homecoming of sorts for the studio, nearly 15 years after they first visited the Star Wars universe, and they would be returning with a substantial amount of experience working on games like this.

Apply the lessons learned on development of games like Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds and a new KOTOR under the Obsidian umbrella could be incredible. I hope to see this happen.

Bethesda Game Studios - Donovan Erskine, The Last Jedi

Though they may not be as beloved as they were a decade ago, I believe that Bethesda Game Studios is still one hell of a developer and would love to see them take a crack at KOTOR. They’ve already proven more than once that they can create excellent RPG experiences, making them an obvious choice. On top of that, they do a solid job of exploring lore in their games, a quality that would serve quite well in the Star Wars universe.

Square Enix - Blake Morse, Reviews Editor

For me RPG games just don’t get much better than a Squenix banger. Final Fantasy II (US) was the first RPG I ever played, and it kept me coming back for more since then. I feel like the company is entering a new golden age of RPGs not only with last year’s phenomenal Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but also in no small part thanks to Dragon Quest 11 the year before that as well. It honestly seems like a no-brainer to me. Give one of the best RPG-makers around the keys to the factory and see what awesome stuff they come up with. Could you imagine a KOTOR with flashy cinematic Jedi attacks and fancy FF7 Remake-inspired graphics? I can, and hopefully Lucasfilm Games can too. 

Larian - Chris Jarrard, Has better opinions than other staff

This one is kind of easy. Who makes the best RPGs? Larian. Who should make this RPG? Larian. That said, Star Wars has been played out since I was in diapers, so I’d prefer that the team gets to work on something all-new after completing Baldur’s Gate 3, but new ideas are scary.

Remedy Entertainment - Sam Chandler, Control Wars

Remedy Entertainment’s 2019 hit title, Control, was one of the first games I’ve played in a long time that actually felt like I had some kind of Star Wars-like powers. Furthermore, the storytelling in Control was an unexpected change of pace from the usual delivery I’d come to expect. It would be thrilling to see Remedy tackle the lore and backstories in Star Wars in a similar manner while also injecting the same kind of power-feel that players received controlling Jesse.

Obsidian Entertainment - Bill Lavoy, Co-EIC

I’m going to join a few members of the staff here in saying that I’d be down to have Obsidian Entertainment take a crack at this. The Outer Worlds was top tier, and whenever someone says “RPG” in relation to video games, my mind jumps to them instantly. Besides, they just crushed the whole space setting with The Outer Worlds, so they have a lot going for them on this pitch.

Larian - Josh Hawkins, Guides Editor

As far as RPGs go, there are a lot of great contenders for the next KOTOR game. Despite the love that I have for Obsidian, I really like where the studio is headed now, and feel like diving back into KOTOR would be taking a step back into the past. That’s why I’d rather see a studio that hasn’t developed KOTOR in the past come into play.

Enter Larian Studios. Known for its Divinity series, and more recently Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian has managed to earn a foundation hold on what it takes to make a really great RPG. I’d love to see the developers and creative minds behind these gems have a chance to bring KOTOR to life in a new way.

Obsidian Entertainment - TJ Denzer, dreams of KOTOR/Outer Worlds crossovers

I think one of the things that uniquely sets Obsidian apart from a lot of other RPG developers is the range of styles from which it has approached the genre. The crew knows their way around isometric RPGs as evidenced by Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny. They also know their way well around first-person open-worlds as evidenced by Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds.

Both of these styles would work for a new KOTOR game, but I think the value is also in not only how much depth Obsidian Entertainment knows how to craft into an RPG, but also the blend of lighthearted and messy it’s capable of injecting into the narrative. Obsidian is the crew I would fully trust to bring both the whimsical comedic and the dark and harrowing elements of a proper Star Wars story together in one place. It’s not that any other RPG developer is incapable of this, mind you. It’s just that I know Obsidian is the one who would do it in the way I’d probably enjoy best.

Bethesda - Greg Burke, Head of Video

I missed the train on KOTOR. So, I have no nostalgia for the series. But I guess I would choose Bethesda. Skyrim was fantastic, I could see something like that in the Star Wars universe. 

Rockstar Games-Steve Tyminski, Awesome Stevetendo show host

What developer do we want to make a new KOTOR game? I’m going outside the box on this one and going with Rockstar Games. They have the experience with online building with the Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto franchises. It would be an interesting take on the KOTOR formula by giving it a darker feel than in the past. I’m not saying KOTOR didn’t have a dark tone to it in the past but it would have a much different feel if Rockstar were doing something with it. The Jedi Order and the Empire are fighting like it’s the Wild West so it would be neat to see it actually treated like the Wild West. If a bounty hunter gets up in your face, you just blast them.

Respawn Entertainment - Bryan Lefler, Never clicked with CRPGs

I’ve tried to play Knights of the Old Republic a few times now, on PC, Xbox One backwards compatibility, even my aging but trusty iPad 3. It didn’t hook me just like any other time I dabbled with CRPGs. It’s barely recognizable as one among others in the genre, maybe “My First CRPG” would be more appropriate. It has the Star Wars license, amazing characters, solid writing, engaging storylines, but the gameplay always turned me off from minute one. This is a fault of my own tastes in gaming, there’s obviously nothing wrong with Dungeons & Dragons ruleset games based on the lasting hunger of gamers everywhere for more entries.

But if I were somehow in charge of who gets to make the next KOTOR? I’m giving it to Respawn Entertainment. I love the studio’s entire portfolio, and despite any faults with Fallen Order, they have proven that they get the Star Wars universe and can craft worlds within it. I’m up for some more action infusion into the turn-based dice rolling formula. It might be the thing that gets me to play a Knights of the Old Republic 3.

Do you agree with our answers? Who would you want to see in charge of making a new KOTOR game? Let us know in the Chatty comments below!

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.