A leaked cinematic from Aspyr’s cancelled KOTOR Remake shows the Endar Spire opening with a voiced protagonist. Saber Interactive continues active development, and insiders hint at a potential gameplay reveal later in 2026.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake leaked new footage on May 18, 2026, giving fans their clearest look yet at the original creative direction for the long-troubled project. The work-in-progress cinematic, discovered through a former Aspyr animator’s portfolio, depicts the game’s opening aboard the Endar Spire and confirms a major departure from the 2003 original: a fully voiced player character.
What Does the Leaked Endar Spire Cinematic Show?
According to MP1st, which first discovered the footage, the clip shows the player character and Trask Ulgo, the original game’s tutorial companion, moving through the Endar Spire during the opening sequence. A sudden explosion tears through the corridor, threatening to pull both characters into the vacuum of space before Trask hits an emergency bulkhead to seal the breach. The scene ends with the objective to find Captain Carth Onasi, transitioning directly into gameplay.
The footage is clearly early-stage development material: greybox environments with no textures, placeholder sound effects, and incomplete character animations. As VGC reported, this represents the most detailed glimpse into the original Aspyr vision for the remake before the project changed hands. The animator’s portfolio has since been taken down.
Voiced Protagonist Confirmed: A Major Shift From the 2003 Original
The most significant revelation from the leak is that the player character speaks with full voice acting during the cinematic. BioWare’s 2003 original used an entirely silent protagonist who communicated only through text-based dialogue boxes. This change aligns with earlier claims from the YouTube channel “100% Star Wars,” which had previously reported that Aspyr’s version featured a voiced protagonist alongside combat gameplay influenced by Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
Whether the voice acting was intended to extend beyond cutscenes into full gameplay remains unknown. However, the approach mirrors what modern RPGs from BioWare and other studios have adopted since the original KOTOR’s release, suggesting the remake aimed to bring the experience in line with contemporary expectations.
Aspyr’s Combat Vision: Action-Oriented With FF7-Style Mechanics
The leaked cinematic is not the only window into Aspyr’s cancelled version. In March 2026, the leaker known as “100% Star Wars” described Aspyr’s combat system as a “poor man’s Fallen Order with FF7 pause mechanics,” emphasizing that this direction “WAS much more action oriented.” The deliberate use of past tense strongly implies Saber Interactive’s current version takes a different approach.
Separate claims from a Reddit leaker called Midnight Saber 7 suggest the Saber version is building a real-time combat system with an optional pause menu for abilities and squad management, along with expanded Revan flashback sequences, cinematic romance options, and Mass Effect-style dialogue choices. None of this has been officially confirmed, but the direction points toward a thoroughly modernized RPG experience.
The Troubled Development History of KOTOR Remake
The KOTOR Remake was first announced at the PlayStation Showcase in September 2021 as a PS5 and PC exclusive developed by Aspyr. By mid-2022, serious problems had emerged. A vertical slice demo presented to Sony and Lucasfilm reportedly failed to meet expectations. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Sony felt the demo was not “cinematic enough.” Aspyr’s art director and design director were fired, and the project was paused indefinitely.
Embracer Group, which owned both Aspyr and Saber Interactive at the time, transferred the project entirely to Saber’s Eastern European studios. When Embracer later faced a severe financial crisis following the collapse of a major Saudi Arabian investment deal, Saber Interactive secured its independence through a $247 million buyout in 2024. Critically, Saber confirmed it was taking the KOTOR Remake license with it, ensuring the project survived the Embracer fallout.
Where Is the KOTOR Remake Now?
In March 2026, Saber Interactive Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits told IGN directly: “Yes, it is still in development. That’s all I can say.” While brief, this was the most definitive official confirmation in years that the project has not been quietly cancelled. A December 2025 report from journalist Stephen Totilo at Game File revealed that development had been handed to Mad Head Games, a Serbian subsidiary of Saber Interactive also working on Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival.
Mad Head Games’ official website lists an “unannounced AAA game based on a famous and beloved IP” among its active projects. Legal filings related to a separate lawsuit further confirmed Mad Head’s involvement with the KOTOR property, adding documentary evidence that the project is genuinely in active production.
The leaker “100% Star Wars” offered an even more optimistic picture. In a March 2026 post on X, they claimed to have personally seen Saber’s KOTOR Remake and stated: “I’m extremely impressed with most of what they’re building. Having seen both, I think the canceling of Aspyr’s remake with Saber starting from scratch was the right choice. If things continue smoothly, possible reveal this year.”
KOTOR 2 Remake Also on the Roadmap: Project Juliet
Court documents from a false advertising lawsuit against Lucasfilm Games and Aspyr, surfaced by Game File in December 2025, revealed an unexpected detail. Lucasfilm Games Vice President Douglas Reilly confirmed in a legal deposition that “Project Juliet” is the internal code name for a full remake of KOTOR II: The Sith Lords. Reilly described it as a project with “modern art, modern gameplay” that would keep the original story and characters while rebuilding the game for modern hardware.
Significantly, Reilly confirmed that the plan included officially remaking the famous cut content restored by community modders through the Restored Content Mod, meaning KOTOR II’s notoriously unfinished ending could finally receive a complete treatment. As of March 2025, Project Juliet was “technically on the roadmap,” though the priority was clearly the KOTOR 1 remake first. GamesRadar and Kotaku both covered these revelations, noting that while the project’s current active status is unconfirmed, no cancellation was mentioned in the filings.
May the 4th Artwork Fuels Speculation
On May 4, 2026, the official Star Wars channels released a new gaming banner in which roughly one-third of the artwork was dedicated to the Old Republic era. GamingBible reported that the banner featured brand-new illustrations of Bastila Shan, Darth Revan, Jolee Bindo, and HK-47. These were not recycled promotional images from the 2021 announcement but entirely fresh artwork. Fans and outlets interpreted this as a strong signal that something KOTOR-related is being prepared for a formal reveal.
Fate of the Old Republic: A Spiritual Successor Enters the Picture
The KOTOR Remake is not the only Old Republic project in development. At The Game Awards 2025, original KOTOR and Mass Effect director Casey Hudson announced Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, a brand-new single-player RPG featuring new characters and an original story set in the Old Republic era. Hudson, speaking to StarWars.com, emphasized that the game would release before 2030 and that “bigger isn’t necessarily better,” signalling a focused scope.
As TweakTown noted, the existence of Fate of the Old Republic could make the KOTOR Remake a harder sell for Saber Interactive, but the two projects serve fundamentally different purposes. The remake aims to modernize a beloved classic, while Hudson’s game charts entirely new narrative territory within the same era.
Key Questions Players Are Asking
When will the KOTOR Remake be released?
No official release date exists. Insider sources suggest development is progressing smoothly, with a possible gameplay reveal later in 2026. However, most industry observers, including PC Gamer and AllKeyShop, expect the actual launch to fall in 2027 or later, given that Saber effectively restarted development from scratch in late 2022.
Is the KOTOR Remake still a PlayStation exclusive?
The original announcement was for PS5 and PC. Since then, Sony appears to have distanced itself from the project. The original reveal trailer was quietly delisted from PlayStation’s official channels. Multiple sources suggest the exclusivity deal may no longer be active, though neither Sony nor Saber has officially commented.
Will the combat system be turn-based like the original?
Leaks consistently point away from the original’s d20-based, semi-turn-based combat. Aspyr’s version was reportedly action-oriented with FF7 Remake-style pause mechanics. Saber’s version appears to feature real-time combat with optional tactical pausing for ability and squad management, though nothing has been officially confirmed.
Will the story change significantly?
Every indication suggests the core narrative of Revan, the Jedi Civil War, and the Star Forge will remain intact. Developers have consistently stated their commitment to preserving the original story and characters. However, expanded cinematic scenes, voiced dialogue, Revan flashbacks, and additional romance subplots could enrich the experience without altering the fundamental plot.
Who is actually developing the game right now?
Mad Head Games, a Serbian studio operating as a subsidiary of Saber Interactive, is handling primary development. The studio is also known for its work on Pagan Online, Scars Above, and the upcoming Hellraiser: Revival. Saber Interactive oversees the project at a corporate level.
The Bigger Picture: KOTOR Remake Is Alive and Building Momentum
Five years after its initial reveal, the KOTOR Remake has survived studio transfers, corporate collapses, indefinite pauses, and persistent cancellation rumours. As of May 2026, the evidence paints a more promising picture than at any point since the original announcement: Saber Interactive officially confirms active development, a credible leaker claims to be impressed with what the team is building, fresh KOTOR artwork appears on official Star Wars channels, and a KOTOR 2 remake is documented on internal roadmaps. For a project that was once considered dead in the water, the comeback story is beginning to take shape.
