Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is not "a direct sequel or continuation" of the KOTOR games, but it is a "spiritual successor": "This new project is about honoring that legacy"

We got the usual flurry of announcements during this year's The Game Awards, among them being Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, a brand new action RPG set a long, long time ago. Though it's set in the same period, and made by several devs who forged the Knights of the Old Republic games, this isn't a follow-up to those releases, nor should you expect any explicit connection.

"Throughout my two decades of working on Star Wars games, including Star Wars: The Old Republic, I have been fortunate to see firsthand just how much these stories mean to our fans," Douglas Reilly, VP and GM of Lucasfilm Games, tells the official Star Wars website. "For us, this new project is about honoring that legacy by creating something in the same tradition of a deep, cinematic, choice-driven role-playing game."

The interview notes this isn't "a direct sequel or continuation" of the KOTOR series, but it does feature prominent devs from those projects. Casey Hudson, former BioWare general manager who directed the first Knights of the Old Republic, is CEO and director of Arcanaut Studios, a new outfit from which Fate of the Old Republic is the first game.

He calls Fate a "spiritual successor" to what BioWare achieved with Knights 25 years ago. "Fate of the Old Republic represents an opportunity to explore a contemporary vision of a definitive Star Wars experience," Hudson adds, "using state-of-the-art technology and game design, and an all-new story crafted specifically to deliver on the combination of player agency and immersion in Star Wars that was at the heart of KOTOR."

Besides the era it takes place in, we don't have any other details on Fate of the Old Republic, and Hudson mentions development is still on the earlier side. But the characters and story will be fresh. It might not give us further adventures of the Exile and Revan, this production is already plenty strong in the Force.

A "full remake" of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 with "modern gameplay" and an improved ending is "on the road map," according to Lucasfilm Games exec.