Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic needs to put being an RPG before being a Star Wars game, but I'm already intrigued by its promises of "player agency and immersion"

Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is making a remarkable first impression. Its trailer at The Game Awards revealed very little besides our lightsaber-wielding protagonist and the crispest leather chair ever rendered (look at it below!), but the five words that chase the game's title card – "From game director Casey Hudson" – are by far the most important takeaway.

If you need a refresher: Casey Hudson is a BioWare veteran who served as project director for the Mass Effect trilogy and, more importantly, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. That's after cutting his teeth on Baldur's Gate 2 and Neverwinter Nights, two of the most influential RPGs ever made. That should inspire a lot of confidence. It certainly did for Lucasfilm Games, which must have greenlit Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic in the blink of an eye given it's being revealed just months after developer Arcanaut Studios was co-founded by Hudson. I'm cautiously excited.

Starbound

It's been over 20 years since we were treated to a full-fat Star Wars RPG, with 2023's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor dabbling in that space but ultimately staying true to its predecessor's tighter action-adventure scope. That was probably smart: a whiff of role-playing would have invited countless comparisons to Knights of the Old Republic, which remains a high bar to clear 22 years on from release.

Rather than shying away from that legacy, Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic grabs it with both hands – and after reading up on what the team has to share, my spark for a galaxy far, far away may already have been rekindled.

First, the bad news: it's still early days for Fate of the Old Republic, which is still in the first stages of development. That's according to this interview on Star Wars, where Hudson is joined by Douglas Reilly, vice president of Lucasfilm Games, to discuss the upcoming RPG.

The good news? Like Knights of the Old Republic, Fate of the Old Republic seems keen to avoid retreading familiar Star Wars beats too heavily. "Being set in the past gives us an immense amount of open space to tell new original Star Wars stories," says Reilly. "There are, quite literally, infinite stories to tell. While we will always honor and celebrate the core saga, it’s crucial to explore new territory, meet new characters, and see new parts of the galaxy.”

Gaming has traditionally been the medium with the longest leash when it comes to Star Wars. I loved the way Star Wars Jedi: Survivor wrote droids into its post-republic setting, and that sort of creativity – not to mention the confidence to foster in new characters like Cal Kestis – is where Star Wars thrives best. Frankly, leaning into this approach is the only way a new Star Wars RPG could have worked. Cautious retreads of the original saga's story have offered diminishing returns over the years, and Disney has struggled to make Star Wars feel contemporary under its stewardship.

Being free to explore the galaxy and leave behind the Skywalkers' domestic drama is Fate of the Old Republic's biggest advantage, making it stand out even amid all the other upcoming Star Wars games. So, too, is its emphasis on being an RPG first and foremost. Hudson says Fate of the Old Republic will be "equally ambitious" to Knights of the Old Republic, and stresses that it will "deliver on the combination of player agency and immersion in Star Wars that was at the heart of KOTOR."

If Fates of the Old Republic wants to reach those same heights, it needs to first and foremost be a good RPG that fits naturally with Star Wars, taking from the source material's strengths rather than offering itself in service to them. Just look at the way Baldur's Gate 3 became the definitive Dungeons & Dragons adaptation despite honing in on a remarkably small portion of the setting, introducing enough new players to D&D that even parent company Hasbro took notice. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, which found similar success for Games Workshop's 40K miniatures, captured the scale of an entire galaxy not through ham-fisted references but through best-in-class horde mechanics and dizzying level design.

On paper, I'm convinced Star Wars: Fates of the Old Republic offers Disney the same opportunity. I don't want a game that spends its runtime winking to fans of The Empire Strikes Back, or something that's already planned to tie in with any upcoming Star Wars movies in the works. I want an RPG deep enough to create its own Wiki rabbit holes, not plumb existing ones. I also want an RPG that lets me flash-fry enemies with force lightning, and while I don't think that's too much to ask, we can cross that bridge when we come to it.

For now, I'll join everyone else in waiting to hear more from Arcanaut Studios. But Star Wars: Fates of the Old Republic is promising the right things, and that alone puts it above many adaptations that have struggled out of the gate with understanding what fans wanted. Impress me, Arcanaut, and then we can talk about the lightning.

To catch up on this week's huge reveals, here's everything announced at The Game Awards 2025