The Game Awards 2025 was filled with tons of exciting game announcements, but it was Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic that stole the show.
The game is currently in development at Arcanaut Studios, a newly formed team of veteran developers whose past work includes Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the Mass Effect trilogy, and major studios such as Microsoft, Epic, Remedy, and The Coalition. Leading development is game director Casey Hudson, who also served as the director of the original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic at BioWare.
Many fans entered the evening hoping for an update on the long-awaited Knights of the Old Republic remake, making the reveal of Fate of the Old Republic a thrilling surprise. Even with minimal details shared, excitement for the project, which is described as spiritual successor to the classic RPG, is already building.
Fate of the Old Republic is said to be in early development, but the release of the tease trailer may have led some viewers to believe the game is decently far along. Unfortunately, that's likely not the case.
As the website for Arcanaut Studios states, the game company was founded in July 2025. While it's impressive they were able to pump out a cinematic trailer of such high quality in time for The Game Awards, it's unlikely that development has progressed very far.
Unfortunately, this also means it will likely be years before Fate of the Old Republic is released. It’s far too early for Arcanaut to discuss a launch window, but Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier briefly commented on the reveal, suggesting the game may not arrive until 2030. He admitted that this is just an "optimistic guess" and not necessarily what he's hearing from industry insiders.
Last night's biggest surprise was Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, led by Casey Hudson, who directed KOTOR (and Anthem). Exciting news for lots of people... but Lucasfilm says the studio was founded this year, which means that 2030 is an *optimistic* guess. Maybe it'll be a PlayStation 7 game
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Schreier’s post served as a harsh dose of reality for many fans, some of whom began comparing the reveal to Star Wars Eclipse, first announced in 2021 at The Game Awards and rarely updated since. Not all AAA games follow the same development cycle, but as we’ve already seen with Star Wars Eclipse, a five-year development window is not unusual. A 2030 release may sound far off — and it is — but it reflects the current reality of AAA game development. Schreier also pointed out that many of these AAA games also get canceled midway through development.
Yup, and half the time they get canceled (Wonder Woman was also announced through a CG trailer at the 2021 Game Awards)
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 11:38 AM
So while it’s easy to be excited for Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, it’s wise to temper expectations for now.
A second Star Wars game was also announced at The Game Awards: Star Wars: Galactic Racer, a gritty, runs-based racing game from former co-founders and lead developers at Criterion (Burnout Paradise, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit). This game is at least said to be releasing in 2026.