Casey Hudson is building a new Old Republic RPG, but apparently he is not asking a chatbot to write the soul of it. The Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic director has made it clear that Arcanaut Studios is not using AI to build its upcoming Star Wars RPG. In comments first reported from Bloomberg and picked up by Windows Central, Hudson said he is “really unimpressed” with AI and called it “creatively soulless.” That is a sharp line in a games industry increasingly obsessed with automation, cost-cutting, and pretending the phrase “AI pipeline efficiency” does not sound like something a villain says before building a moon-sized laser. Human-Made RPGs Still Matter Hudson’s stance matters because Fate of the Old Republic is not just any licensed game. It is being positioned as a spiritual successor to Knights of the Old Republic, one of the most beloved narrative RPGs ever…
Arcanaut Studios
Fate of the Old Republic Won’t Be a 200-Hour Monster
The next big Old Republic game may not be designed to eat your entire adult life. Frankly, that already sounds a little heroic. In a new Bloomberg report about the company backing Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, director Casey Hudson makes one thing very clear: this is not being built as another endless RPG treadmill with a lightsaber taped to the front. His key line? “Bigger isn’t necessarily better.” That is a small sentence with a lot of weight behind it. In an RPG landscape where “value” is often measured in hundreds of hours, endless side quests, and maps covered in icons, Hudson’s approach sounds almost rebellious: make a Star Wars RPG people can actually finish — and then give them a reason to come back. A Star Wars RPG You Might Actually Finish The Bloomberg piece focuses on former NetEase executive Simon Zhu, whose new GreaterThan Group…
Fate of the Old Republic’s BioWare DNA Is Starting to Look Very Real
The new Old Republic game is not technically Knights of the Old Republic 3. Lucasfilm has been careful about that. But if the team keeps filling up with former BioWare veterans, people are going to keep squinting at it like it just walked into a cantina wearing Revan’s old cloak. A new PC Gamer report highlights a fresh update to the Arcanaut Studios team page, revealing more of the senior talent working on Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic. And the short version is simple: this thing has a lot of BioWare blood in the tank. Casey Hudson Was Only the Beginning When Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic was revealed at The Game Awards 2025, the headline was already enormous: Casey Hudson was back in the Old Republic era. That alone mattered. Hudson was the project director on the original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic…
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic’s “Modesto” Codename May Be a George Lucas Clue
The latest Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic speculation is not about a Sith Lord, a planet, or a returning character. It is about a possible internal codename: “Modesto.” The name surfaced through Star Wars community posts and leak chatter, but it has not been officially confirmed by Lucasfilm or Arcanaut Studios. That matters, because if the codename is real, it immediately points to something bigger than a random placeholder: Modesto is George Lucas’ hometown. Why “Modesto” Stands Out “Modesto” is not just any California reference. Lucasfilm has explicitly described Modesto as the place that shaped George Lucas’ adolescence and inspired American Graffiti, while StarWars.com recently called it the small California town where Lucas grew up before making Star Wars. That makes the alleged codename feel unusually specific. If true, it would be hard to read it as anything other than a deliberate nod to Lucas himself. Probably Not…
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic Adds a Studio Art Director — Pascal Blanché Joins Casey Hudson’s Team
If you’re tracking Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic like it’s a mystery box (because it kind of is), here’s a real, tangible development: Pascal Blanché has joined Arcanaut Studios as Studio Art Director, working alongside Casey Hudson on the upcoming Star Wars RPG. Blanché shared the news himself, saying he’s “joined forces (pun intended)” with Hudson and Arcanaut’s team to work on what he calls the next “epic” chapter for the project. Why this hire matters (even if you don’t care about job titles) “Studio Art Director” isn’t just a fancy credit. It usually means the project is locking in a visual identity: the look of the era, the tone of environments, character silhouettes, color language, UI direction, and the “what does this Star Wars corner feel like?” bible that everything else builds on. In other words: this is a sign the creative machine is turning, not just…
From KOTOR to Fate of the Old Republic: Casey Hudson’s Star Wars Return
When Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic was announced, one name immediately caught the attention of longtime RPG fans: Casey Hudson. Best known as the director of Knights of the Old Republic and the creative force behind the Mass Effect trilogy, Hudson is officially returning to Star Wars—this time as founder and CEO of Arcanaut Studios. Rather than revisiting the past, Fate of the Old Republic represents a new chapter in Hudson’s career and in Star Wars gaming. It’s a return to the Old Republic era built around player choice, narrative consequence, and cinematic storytelling—the same pillars that helped define some of the most influential role-playing games of the last two decades. Casey Hudson Casey Hudson is a Canadian video game director, producer, and studio executive best known for his work on narrative-driven role-playing games. He rose to prominence at BioWare, where he served as project director on Star…
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic Announced — A New RPG Led by Casey Hudson
The Old Republic is officially back in the spotlight. A brand-new Star Wars game titled Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic has been announced, and it’s already turning heads for one very big reason: Casey Hudson is leading the project at Arcanaut Studios. Yes—that Casey Hudson. The creative force behind Knights of the Old Republic and the Mass Effect trilogy. For longtime Star Wars gaming fans, this announcement feels less like news and more like destiny. A Return to the Old Republic Era Fate of the Old Republic is set thousands of years before the Skywalker saga, in an era defined by powerful Force users, rising Sith empires, and galaxy-shaping choices. This isn’t a side story or a nostalgic cameo—it’s a full-scale return to one of the most beloved periods in Star Wars lore. The Old Republic setting allows the game to explore Star Wars without being boxed in…