BioWare’s Scrapped “The New Republic” Would Have Rebooted SWTOR as an Online KOTOR, but EA’s Board Killed It Over $300m Spend

BioWare had a concrete plan in 2015 to reboot Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) as an MMO closer to the acclaimed Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR), but Electronic Arts’ board rejected the pitch, citing memories of SWTOR’s $300 million launch costs, according to former BioWare lead designer James Ohlen.

BioWare’s lead designer James Ohlen, responsible for genre-defining RPGs like KOTOR and Baldur’s Gate, developed a full-fledged proposal in 2015 to remake Star Wars: The Old Republic into something much more like the single-player KOTOR experience fans had long wanted. Ohlen spent six months creating this design, internally referred to as The New Republic, which he described as “a chance to do [SWTOR more like] Knights of the Old Republic online.” He added, “It was a chance to [put right] everything I’d said that we’d messed up.”

Ohlen advanced the project far enough to convince key Lucasfilm executives. He cited then-Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and now-president Dave Filoni as supporters. Ohlen told PC Gamer that Filoni said, “If you set it a couple hundred years before the fall of the Republic, we can have a tie-in.” This enthusiasm highlighted Lucasfilm’s appetite for a deeper canonical bridge between eras of Star Wars storytelling.

The plan even won over Patrick Söderlund, then boss of EA Worldwide Studios, who Ohlen claimed “hates Star Wars: The Old Republic.” Ohlen stated, “I remember I got super excited because the big challenge was Patrick Söderlund … And I convinced him… it was one of the greatest accomplishments of my career.” Söderlund, after leaving EA, founded Embark Studios (creators of The Finals and Arc Raiders).

Yet everything rested with EA’s board of directors. Ohlen explained, “We were going to be able to have a Star Wars: The New Republic until the board of directors of EA, who all remembered the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic, and remembered spending $300m… They’re like, ‘Why the fuck are we gonna spend a bunch more?’”

The veto killed “The New Republic” reboot proposal. Ohlen recalled, “That was the beginning of the end for me.” He subsequently worked on Anthem with several original KOTOR team members, but left BioWare in 2018 after a 22-year tenure, a year before Anthem released.

SWTOR made partial attempts to emulate single-player KOTOR through expansions like Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne, with highly narrative-driven story content and gameplay shifts. These expansions, while more “KOTOR-coded,” remained iterations rather than successors. The fan-driven desire for a true online KOTOR has endured, especially in light of the still-unreleased KOTOR remake and continued speculation about its fate.

Notably, Casey Hudson, the original KOTOR director, is now developing Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, which aims to deliver the KOTOR experience fans seek. Hudson reportedly plans to release the game before 2030, fuelling further anticipation in the Star Wars gaming community.

After BioWare, Ohlen founded Archetype Entertainment under Wizards of the Coast, where he headed the upcoming Mass Effect-like RPG Exodus, expected next year. However, Ohlen stepped down in 2026 citing burnout: “I was running on fumes, and it was hurting my health, and my personal life, and everything. I just needed to step away.”

Ohlen has since returned to his tabletop gaming roots, founding the smaller studio Arcanum Worlds and writing campaign books compatible with Dungeons & Dragons. Remarking on future possibilities, Ohlen mused, “I’m sure I’ll get bamboozled into starting another video game studio, and all the pain that comes with it.”