The thing about this is that a copyright holder has to defend their copyright in most situations like this, otherwise they are setting a precedent that makes it more challenging for them to protect their IP in future cases, cases where a third party might eventually try to profit off of it. So while I’m sure people at Lucasfilm thought it was cool, they have take legal action.
I also don’t think this is a sign that there is another KOTOR game currently in the works. It just got big enough where they had to take legal action.
This isn’t a malicious move, or a “Disney hates the fans!” kind of situation that clickbaity YouTubers might try to preach. They just have to protect their IP, plain and simple. Even though it might be totally innocent, future situations might not be so and can take advantage of any leniency.
But I do agree with the frustration with EA holding the rights to Star Wars games for however many years, and after the lootbox fiasco I think that Disney (and I am pretty sure it was Disney’s decision and not Lucasfilm’s) is kicking themselves for making such a deal, but I feel they will try to get out of it as soon as they can.
In my opinion, I think situations like this, and the Battlefront 3 remake however long ago, can be prevented while still giving us more Star Wars games.
If I were wanting to make a Star Wars game, I would design and market it as an original title, while also working on a Star Wars “mod” for the game in an indirect way. Once the game is released, release the Star Wars mod sometime after. The problem is that they market these projects as unofficial Star Wars games, and doing so is what causes these Cease and Desist letters to happen, causing all of their owrk to go down the drain.
So either publicly making these projects original games and then later indirectly releasing a Star Wars overhaul mod for it, or focusing efforts to make Star Wars overhaul mods for existing games or making Remaster Mods for existing Star Wars games but not making a big deal out of it until after it is released are the best ways to avoid situations like this. I understand they had to go about it this way to achieve what they were trying to do, but marketing it so hard the way they did led to its downfall. Now the best thing they can do is just make an original game so their work/experience won’t completely go to waste.