EA Shut Down Plans To Reboot And Improve Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars: The Old Republic Could Have Got A Big, KOTOR-Themed Reboot, But EA Shut It Down Published May 15, 2026, 7:20 AM EDT Even from the outside looking in, it's plain to see that EA and BioWare didn't exactly mesh well. BioWare devs have repeatedly suggested as much, with both Mark Darrah and David Gaider shedding some light on the difficulties they experienced at the hands of BioWare's parent company. Now, fellow BioWare veteran James Ohlen is adding his voice to this, revealing that EA shot down the chance to reboot Star Wars: The Old Republic. Speaking with PC Gamer, Ohlen explains how the reboot would have addressed a bunch of issues from launch, and brought the MMO more in line with the KOTOR games that came before it. In the interview, Ohlen shares his regrets with The Old Republic. He says that it became less of a KOTOR game and more "WoW in space", something he wanted to rectify with a big reboot update he cooked up in 2015. "It was the chance to do Knights of the Old Republic online, it was a chance to [put right] everything I'd said that we'd messed up," Ohlen says. The idea clearly gained quite a bit of traction. Ohlen got it past both an EA exec and Kathleen Kennedy from Lucasfilm. He'd even had meetings with Dave Filoni about a possible tie-in, which could have been the highlight of an otherwise disappointing relationship between EA and Lucasfilm. Your browser does not support the video tag. However, it all fell apart when EA was fearful about the costs. "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 $300 million," he says. "They're like, 'Why the f**k are we gonna spend a bunch more?'" Ohlen describes this as the "beginning of the end" of his time at BioWare, and he left in 2018, after 22 years with the company. He was just one of many veterans to leave, and others would then be laid off after Dragon Age: The Veilguard's launch. As for Star Wars: The Old Republic, that swapped hands from BioWare to Broadsword Online Games in 2023. BioWare's only known project right now is the new Mass Effect. Systems Released December 20, 2011 ESRB T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Sexual Themes, Violence Developer(s) BioWare Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Engine HeroEngine Multiplayer Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer, Local Co-Op Franchise Star Wars