Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic promises exciting RPG without creative use of AI

The upcoming game Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is a spiritual successor to the classic Knights of the Old Republic and is being developed by Arcanaut Studios, led by veteran game director Casey Hudson. Hudson, formerly of BioWare, has made several big promises about the game’s direction, including its expected length and the role of artificial intelligence in the development process.

Development details

Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic was announced during The Game Awards in 2025, drawing plenty of attention thanks to the involvement of former BioWare staff, including Hudson. The game promises to be an action RPG that lets players explore different paths and story branches, adding replay value.

Hudson has said he wants to keep development lean, preferring to hire contractors rather than build a large permanent staff. That marks a clear shift from his earlier experience at BioWare, where he said a large team made production cumbersome.

One of the game’s core principles is that Hudson does not plan to make a game that takes hundreds of hours to finish. In multiple interviews, he stressed that the idea of bloated games, such as titles that run longer than 200 hours, does not reflect his vision for this RPG. Hudson says many players simply want a game they can play and finish.

Big investments

Development of Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is being partly funded by GreaterThan Group, founded by Simon Zhu, the former president of global investments at NetEase. GreaterThan Group has raised a total of $100 million, with $40 million already available and another $60 million in commitments. That gives the project a solid financial foundation.

Hudson and Zhu agree that production should not take longer than four years, and they expect the game to launch before 2030. It’s an ambitious timeline, but Hudson is optimistic it can be done given his experience and Arcanaut Studios’ setup.