Star Wars: The Old Republic – Celebrating the Legacy of Knights of the Old Republic

As BioWare’s hit RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic gets ported over to Xbox One through the wonders of backwards compatibility, the latest iteration of the series, Star Wars: The Old Republic gets a special event that celebrates the original game and its protagonist, Revan.

These celebrations come in the form of an event that allows everyone to get the Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan expansions for free, along with a stylish Swoop Bike mount. The event will last through November 6, 2017, so if you want the free stuff, you’ll have to move fast (sorry for sleeping on these news a bit). Here’s how you get it:

The Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ team is excited to celebrate Microsoft’s release of the original Star Wars™: Knights of the Old Republic™ coming tomorrow, October 24th, to Xbox One.

From gripping dark side and light side choices to legendary characters like Revan, the profound legacy of Knights of the Old Republic lives on in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Now through November 6th, join us in celebrating this legacy:

• Play Shadow of Revan Expansion for free*: For the first time, we’re offering all players a chance to play the Shadow of Revan Expansion for free. Prepare to face Revan and his fanatical followers!
  REVANRETURNS
  • Visit www.swtor.com/redeem-code and enter the shareable code above.
  • This code offers you access to the first two story expansions, Rise of the Hutt Cartel (Level 51 – 55) and Shadow of Revan (Level 56 – 60), so you can play the story free from Level 1 – 60!
• Get your very own KOTOR-inspired Swoop Bike*: Escape your enemies in style aboard this super sleek Kakkran Daggerstar, designed as a tribute to the game that started it all – Knights of the Old Republic!
  KOTORSPEEDER
  • Visit www.swtor.com/redeem-code and enter the shareable code above.
  • Claim your speeder through your in-game mail!
• Become legend with iconic KOTOR-themed items: Your favorite KOTOR-themed items are back in the Cartel Market for a limited time! From Bastila Shan to Revan, don the armor of classic KOTOR heroes and villains or proudly display the revered ‘Revan’s Heir’ character title. See what’s on sale!

And apart from that, BioWare’s director of design James Ohlen and senior writer Drew Karpyshyn have written a couple of open letters entitled The Impact of KOTOR on SWTOR and The Evolution of Revan, respectively. Here’s the latter:

When I first started working on Star Wars™: Knights of the Old Republic™ in my early days at BioWare, I knew we were making something amazing. It wasn’t just the thrill of creating an RPG in the Star Wars™ universe, or being able to bring the Old Republic setting to a wider audience. Right from the beginning, I knew that the character of Revan was something special – a way for players to connect to the Star Wars universe and explore the duality of the light and dark sides of the Force™ in a new way. Because of this, I was convinced almost from day one that KOTOR was going to be a hit.

But the success of our game, and the popularity of Revan as a character, exceeded even my expectations. Fans simply couldn’t get enough Revan. After the game, a comic series explored the backstory of the character, and I eventually wrote a novel to continue Revan’s adventures after the game. But many fans still weren’t satisfied, and to be honest I felt there was still more to explore with the character.

With the release of Shadow of Revan, the 2014 expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic, the conclusion of Revan’s tale was finally told. It’s amazing to me that the story of this character I helped to create has now spanned more than a decade. The tale of Revan winds its way through all the BioWare Old Republic games, uniting them with a shared heritage and mythology – a common thread linking KOTOR to SWTOR.

Revan has become a part of Star Wars lore and an iconic figure in the Old Republic and a beloved fan favorite. I’ve come to accept that Revan no longer belongs to me… and perhaps never did. But I’m honored to have played a role in sharing and shaping Revan’s story, and I’m excited for a new generation of fans to experience it. Join us in celebrating the legacy of KOTOR and Revan here.

Thanks for being a part of the Old Republic community!

Drew Karpyshyn
Senior Writer, BioWare