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The Game Awards has just shared the premiere trailer for Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic.
The game is being directed by Casey Hudson, the original director for the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games as well as the Mass Effect games.
Shortly after the trailer’s reveal, Casey Hudson shared more information on Twitter:
This is Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, a single player narrative-driven action RPG and spiritual successor to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Working on KOTOR was a defining experience of my career. This is a dream come true for me and our team of incredible storytellers and game makers @ArcanautStudios.
Where Was Casey Hudson This Whole Time?
Casey started out at Bioware around the time that they were acquired by EA in 2000. His firsrt game credits include Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Neverwinter Nights.
What many gamers may not know is that Casey left EA around 2014 and briefly worked at Microsoft. He has special thanks credits on Killer Instinct, Quantum Break, and ReCore.
Casey returned to Bioware in 2017 and left for good in 2020.
In 2021, Casey founded a new studio called Humanoid Origin. This studio was acquired by NetEase, but was then unceremoniously shut down last year.
How Casey Got To Return To Star Wars
As Casey explained in a new interview in the Star Wars website, he founded this new studio, Arcanaut Studios. Disney, via LucasFilm Games, partnered with Arcanaut to make this new game.
Casey revealed that he has stayed in contact with Disney for all these years. He has been waiting for the opportunity to return to Star Wars in earnest, and it turns out that now is his time.
Why Did It Take This Long?
If you may remember, Disney has been struggling with finding a proper direction for video game enterprise. While we may have fond memories of licensed Disney video games for decades, the company hasn’t found consistent success.
And yes, that is in spite of having the mega-franchise that is Kingdom Hearts. To be fair, even the success that Kingdom Hearts has had is at a clearly different rung than Disney’s other businesses in making movies, shows, amusement parks, merchandise, etc.
This also stems from changes in leadership causing new changes in direction. While Disney may now be hesitant to approve Marvel themed video games, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle demonstrates that they need to dip back into their IP library as well.
Disney has also seen mixed results with their Star Wars games. But it’s clear that working with Casey Hudson has a high chance of finding success.
You can watch the official announcement trailer below.
