Just last month, Wizards of the Coast, Magic: The Gathering’s publisher, announced a new game development studio in the form of Archetype Entertainment. Former BioWare Creative Director James Ohlen leads the team. Chad Robertson, who once served as BioWare’s Head of Live Service, is Archetype’s General Manager. Now the recently formed studio is expanding once more, adding yet another BioWare alum to its ranks–Mass Effect writer Drew Karpyshyn. In joining the Austin, Texas-based studio, Karpyshyn assumes the role of Lead Writer.
Karpyshyn shared the exciting news in a recent blog post, detailing his joy at joining Archetype Entertainment. The writer divulged that he hasn’t been “this excited to work on a project in a long, long time!” It seems Archetype is just what the doctor ordered. After years at BioWare, which he departed for a second time in 2018, Karpyshyn said his dream job began to feel like just another job, especially as BioWare (d?)evolved into a company that developed games “based on market research” instead of passion.
Thus far, Archetype is different. Karpyshyn’s new role has “rekindled” his passion, reminding him of his earlier days at the Mass Effect studio. Unfortunately, he could not offer details about Archetype’s first big project. However, we do know it is a sci-fi RPG slated to launch across multiple platforms.
Each of Archetype’s leads have quite the pedigree, which could mean something incredibly unique is on the horizon. As a designer, James Ohlen lent his talents to seminal works such as Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age: Origins. Chad Robertson’s impressive body of work includes the likes of Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Karpyshyn was Lead Writer on the first two Mass Effect entries. He additionally had a hand in scripting Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
[Source: Drew Karpyshyn’s Blog via Eurogamer]
