The “Break it Down” Blog

Ok quick back story to make sense of this:

• BioWare, one of the greatest developers of RPGs and story-driven games for a while now.
• They created Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR). It’s a game based on the Star Wars universe, with things like Jedi and Sith, but not related to the movies. Using the Star Wars platform was a very fertile environment as the game utterly rocked with a fantastic story line, conversation trees allowing you to have changing relationships with all the characters and complete replayability as you could be good, evil or neutral, resulting in a different story each time.
  • This is not unlike the soon-to-be-released Mass Effect from BioWare as well.

So given all that, and BioWare’s track record with making amazing games, there was a rumor going around a year or so ago about them working on a MMO (think World of Warcraft) and everyone got excited… which world would it be based on? Neverwinter Nights world? KOTOR? A new world they developed?

Primotech reports that it has been confirmed to them that the MMO will be based around the KOTOR world and:

The game is being developed by the company’s Austin studio, formed in 2006 and headed by BioWare Creative Director James Ohlen, whose past credits include the first KOTOR, Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur Gate’s I and II.

… did you hear that? That was the sound of my brain simultaneously saying “Fuck YES!” and “Oh SHIT!”.

There was 1 other Star Wars MMO, Star Wars Galaxies, from Sony that crapped out and sent it’s subscribers fleeing. But in fairness to BioWare, Sony has been able to absolutely mame every MMO they try and produce with either stupid graphics are every-changing world rules that drive players crazy.

Sony got Everquest right when there were no other choices. Since then, they have been unable to figure out what is fun and make a game from it.

Update #1: It’s been confirmed, the work is actually a collaboration between BioWare and LucasArts:

LucasArts and BioWare Corp. today announced that they have entered into an agreement to create an interactive entertainment product. The product, details of which will be unveiled at a later date, will be developed and published by BioWare and LucasArts, and will push the boundaries of the gaming market by utilizing the strengths of both companies to deliver an innovative, high-quality experience.

“LucasArts has a deep commitment to developing compelling stories and characters for the unique medium of interactive entertainment, and we have been searching for a developer that shares this value. We found this in BioWare,â€? said Jim Ward, president of LucasArts. “Through our previous collaborations, we know that BioWare has an impressive ability to blend gripping stories with technological advancements, and we believe that our upcoming product will deliver an experience that will span the traditional boundaries of video game entertainment.â€?

“BioWare’s mission is to deliver the best story and character-driven games in the world, delivering powerful emotional experiences to our fans,â€? said Ray Muzyka, chief executive officer, BioWare Corp. Added Greg Zeschuk, president of BioWare Corp., “The collaboration with LucasArts allows us to combine our passion for creating high quality and innovative experiences with those of a company dedicated to bringing only the finest games to market.â€?