Game studio Arcanaut announces their breakout title

The Game Awards are the gaming industry’s Oscars. The top games of the year are awarded in different categories, such as Game of the Year, Best Score and Music, Best Adaptation and Innovation in Accessibility. But it’s also where game studios announce their upcoming projects to an audience of gamers. 

This year’s announcements included “Divinity 3,” “ONTOS”, “Gang of Dragon”, two “Tomb Raider” revamps and even a “Street Fighter” movie. But most notably, the brand-new Canadian game studio Arcanaut has announced its newest title, “Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic”. 

To understand why this announcement has excited fans, a look at past Old Republic games is in order. The first entry into the highly acclaimed series came in 2003 from game developers BioWare and Aspyr. “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” was a hit, with critics such as IGN’s Aaron Boulding who said, “‘Knights of the Old Republic’ is an outstanding game because it covers every single angle in terms of audience expectations. It’s got enough Star Wars to satisfy the fans and enough pure fun to draw in people who normally wouldn’t get into role-playing games,” and awarding it a nine and praising its ability to attract both preexisting RPG players as well as ones who would just play the game because it’s a Star Wars game. As Haeden Weber ‘27 said, “I played and loved the Battlefront games as a kid, so any new Star Wars game has my attention.”

After the first “Knights of the Old Republic”, Aspyr partnered with Obsidian Entertainment to release “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, The Sith Lords”. It was released in 2004 and was also very highly acclaimed. In his IGN review, Steve Butts awarded the game a rating of 8.7. Butts said, “All these mechanics — the moral slider, the influence system, combat, etc. — are surrounded by a first rate story that’s almost as mythic and fantastic as the films themselves. Like I said, if you like RPGs or if you like Star Wars, you’ll definitely like ‘Knights of the Old Republic II’. And if you like both? Man, oh, man. Get this game.” Once again, praising the series’ knack for attracting RPG and non-RPG players alike. 

The most recent addition to the series was released in 2011 by BioWare and Electronic Arts, titled “Star Wars: The Old Republic”. IGN critic Nick Kolan awarded a prestigious nine, and said, “I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that ‘The Old Republic’ is a stand-out, wonderfully crafted MMO. The story elements deliver on every front, the vocal performances are excellent, and some genuinely clever innovations have been applied to PvP combat. There’s also a massive volume of content to keep you hooked for a long time.”