Mass Effect lead writer says BioWare became too corporate

Just a couple of weeks ago, Archetype Entertainment officially made its name public, combining the talents of notable former BioWare and Naughty Dog devs on a mission to create a brand new sci-fi RPG. We already knew that Mass Effect and KOTOR writer, Drew Karpyshyn, is involved with the project, but the writer had a bit more to say about his departure from BioWare in a new blog post.

After discussing some other projects that he has been tied to over the last couple of years, Karpyshyn made his big announcement, confirming a position as lead writer on the new game Archetype Entertainment is working on:

“I’m proud to announce that I’m the lead writer for Archetype Entertainment! Founded by James Ohlen – the creative genius behind BioWare hits like Baldur’s Gate, KOTOR and Dragon Age – Archetype is a new video game studio under the Wizards of the Coast umbrella… and I haven’t been this excited to work on a project in a long, long time!”

Interestingly, Karpyshyn's post confirms what many fans have already suspected for a long time now, BioWare has changed a lot over the last decade: “When I started at BioWare, everything was fresh and exciting. It was a dream job – talented people working together to create epic games like Baldur’s Gate, KOTOR, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. But as we grew and became more successful, things changed. We became more corporate.”

Most importantly, he points out that the studio was “less able to make what we loved” and the studio was “pushed to create games based on market research” rather than creative instincts and passion. After a while, Karpyshyn says his dream job “became just a job” and as a result, enthusiasm and excitement started to dwindle. At Archetype Entertainment, that passion “has been rekindled”, with the new studio reminding the famed writer of the early days of BioWare.

KitGuru Says: Lots of publishers rely on market research to help guide decision making but it sounds like in the case of BioWare, that has been having an impact on creativity. Still, Archetype Entertainment seems like an exciting studio to keep an eye on, although it will be a while before their first game is properly unveiled.

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