Former BioWare lead designer James Ohlen has revealed that he spent six months in 2015 developing a reboot plan for Star Wars: The Old Republic called The New Republic. The project aimed to transform the MMO into something closer to Knights of the Old Republic. EA's board of directors ultimately shut it down over concerns about the original game's $300 million launch costs.
Ohlen, who led design on the 2003 Knights of the Old Republic, pitched the idea after the MMO launched in 2011. He secured support from then-Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and director Dave Filoni. Filoni suggested setting the story a couple hundred years before the fall of the Republic for a potential tie-in, Ohlen recalled in a recent interview with PC Gamer. He also won over EA executive Patrick Söderlund, describing the achievement as one of the greatest of his career.