James Ohlen Shifts From Archetype Entertainment Head to Creative Consultant for Tabletop RPGs at Wizards

James Ohlen is "shifting his focus" to tabletop RPGs once more after choosing to step down from Archetype Entertainment ahead of the studio's release of its first game Exodus. This week, Wizards of the Coast announced the move, with Ohlen leaving his post as lead of Archetype Entertainment and Blizzard veteran Paul Della Bitta stepping in to lead Wizards' Digital Ventures arm. Ohlen joined Wizards of the Coast back in 2019 to lead up Archetype Entertainment, a new internal games studio tasked with designing AAA games based on new IPs. Their first product, Exodus, is due out for release in 2027. According to a statement provided to GamesIndustry.biz, Ohlen felt that his work on Exodus was complete and that the final polishing and tuning were in "great hands" with the remaining team.

What's interesting about Ohlen's departure is that he will remain employed at Wizards as a creative consultant and that he is "shifting his creative focus" to TTRPGs. Shortly after departing Bioware, Ohlen launched Arcanum Worlds, a tabletop RPG studio publishing third-party 5E material. Ohlen developed a 5E-version of Exodus for Wizards and also released several DMs Guild supplements while employed with Wizards. Whether this means that Ohlen will have a bigger role on Dungeons & Dragons material in the future or if he'll continue to release his own brand of 5E material with a soft connection to Wizards remains to be seen.

 

[timbannock]

Odyssey of the Dragonlords and . . . Oh, I'm forgetting the title but it basically was a follow-up to the older Baldur's Gate games that round out the other major works he's done, that I'm aware of.

Heroes of Baldur's Gate. A great sourcebook and interesting mini-campaign for levels 1 to about 6-ish.

 

[Gozzy]

If they ship the third Exodus TTRPG book, Chronicles of Melayu, in the next six months it suggests all is good.

 

[pukunui]

I have mixed feelings about this announcement. Dragon Age is one of my favorite fantasy franchises, so all respect to Ohlen for his work there ... however, based on the deeply flawed Odyssey of the Dragonlords, I am of the opinion that Ohlen's CRPG writing skills don't translate that well to tabletop gaming. Odyssey would have been epic as a CRPG. As a TTRPG, it didn't work for my players or me.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm not worried.

Still very excited for Exodus, both as a CRPG and TTRPG release. It's been shaping up to be very awesome, and I trust Ohlen when he says he's brought it to where he's comfortable leaving it in others hands. No reason to second guess him.

Very excited to see what Ohlen brings to WotC's TTRPGs! Does this mean the Exodus TTRPG will get a more mainstream treatment?! What else will Ohlen cook up? Odyssey of the Dragonlords is one of my all-time favorite 3rd party D&D books, and I really enjoyed Heroes of Baldur's Gate and Chains of Asmodeus. And I've been a fan of Ohlen's CRPG work for decades!

Not a good sign! It's a great sign! Sign me up!

I wouldn't say I'm worried, at the very least we got a pretty cool novel or two out of this: but this is, at least, a yellow flag.

 

[Von Ether]

It's odd to me how the related Exodus TTRPG was pretty much released with no fan fare and has no Wizards logo on the front (maybe it's on the back?) It's like WotC is acting like its own 3PP.

And at the time I checked the website a few months ago, WotC didn't even have a logo on the game's website. It does now, though.

 

[timbannock]

It's odd to me how the related Exodus TTRPG was pretty much released with no fan fare and has no Wizards logo on the front (maybe it's on the back?) It's like WotC is acting like its own 3PP.

And at the time I checked the website a few months ago, WotC didn't even have a logo on the game's website. It does now, though.

I'm wondering if that's not actually a part of it. His DMsGuild work got pretty decent marketing... For DMsGuild work. But Exodus got practically nothing. Maybe this is a "I think we can do better, let me show you how" moment?

 

[BovineofWar]

I honestly wonder how much the TTRPG is a employee-led effort vs a major media push from Hazbro/Wizards? I don't know about US, but Canada show they are totally out of stock right now...

 

[Von Ether]

PC Gamer also covered Ohlen move.

Less than a week after dropping a big new trailer at The Game Awards, Exodus studio head James Ohlen has stepped down because he 'felt his work on the game was complete'

Exodus is currently set to launch in early 2027.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[MonsterEnvy]

The TTRPG is currently in a limited release period

 

[Koloth]

Given that he was responsible for 1 and 2, he would be ideally suited to do that.

Personally though, I hope it means the tabletop Exodus game will be given a higher profile.

Nothing so far seems to prevent both from happening. Seems like a lot of the recent WOTC personnel moves have been about making sure all of the various bits are playing together as one big happy family.