RPG: Wizards Of The Coast Opens New Video Game Studio – Sci-Fi cRPG Inbound
Wizards of the Coast have opened up a new video game studio focused on creating story RPGs–starting with something sci-fi.
Last April, Wizards of the Coast announced that it had hired legendary ex-BioWare dev, James Ohlen, to open a new video game studio to develop new properties. Now, nine months later, that initiative is bearing fruit as the new studio makes its official debut. Archetype Entertainment, headed up by James Ohlen and fellow BioWare alum, Chad Robertson, who collectively are responsible for some of the most memorable cRPGs out there, like Knights of the Old Republic or Dragon Age: Origins.
According to their official announcement, they are already at work and appear to be left to their own devices, establishing themselves as an “autonomous division” of Wizards of the Coast:
Archetype Entertainment is a game development studio in Austin, Texas led by industry veterans from BioWare and other AAA studios. Founded in 2019, Archetype is an autonomous division of Wizards of the Coast. We are assembling a world-class team to build a multi-platform roleplaying game set in a new science fiction universe.
That last sentence gives us a hint as to what they’re working on. A new sci-fi universe sounds like an original IP, which is an interesting fact considering that rumors of a newly remastered KOTOR are making the rounds right now. It sends that Archetype will be working on something else, and judging from the blown up ruins from the image on their website, it’ll probably have lots of cool explosions, plus all the usual stuff Ohlen and Robertson are known for:
At Archetype, we believe there will always be a place for story-driven roleplaying games that put the player at the center of an epic personal narrative with impactful choices. We are building games that represent the diversity of our audience. We also believe that game studios should empower top developers and challenge them with ambitious projects that are shaped by a strong, clearly communicated creative vision.
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We’ll be watching the news carefully, so keep checking back for more on what Archetype gets up to.
In the meantime, what sci-fi game would you want to see from a creative team that boasts old school BioWare talent? Let us know in the comments!
