WotC Wizards of the Coast Announces Sci-Fi Video Game with ex-BioWare Developers

Wizards of the Coast announced they are forming a new video game studio called Archetype Entertainment headed by former BioWare developers James Ohlen and Chad Robertson. Ohlen will serve as the Head of Studio while Robertson will take on the title of General Manager. The debut project from the studio will be an original IP, “set in an all-new science fiction universe that will send players on a story-driven epic where choices they make will have real consequences on how their story unfolds.”

Ohlen's credits at BioWare include Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect, Anthem, and of course Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2, and Neverwinter Nights. Roberts served as Head of Technology for BioWare from 2015 to 2019 and Studio Director from 2017 to 2019. In addition to their video game credits, Ohlen and Robertson also collaborated on the recently released 5e compatible campaign setting book Odyssey of the Dragonlords distributed by Modiphius.

Wizards of the Coast originally announced the formation of this new video game studio in April of last year.

 

[Abstruse]

In a community the shared understandings of broadly accepted terminology is important.

So then you agree that we should use the same terms the game developers, publishers, and distributors use? Which would define Action RPGs as games like Skyrim, Witcher 3, Mass Effect, Fallout, etc.? I mean if using shared understanding of broadly accepted terminology is important, you'd think the people making the games would be the ones to ask what genre they are...

 

[Paul Farquhar]

So then you agree that we should use the same terms the game developers, publishers, and distributors use? Which would define Action RPGs as games like Skyrim, Witcher 3, Mass Effect, Fallout, etc.? I mean if using shared understanding of broadly accepted terminology is important, you'd think the people making the games would be the ones to ask what genre they are...

They catagories them in the way they think will shift the most copies. There are no broadly accepted definitions.

 

[ZeshinX]

How you personally categorize them isn't relevant, except how it creates confusion because you are applying a personal definition to a discussion about a broadly accepted term. It would be (just as a random example) like me calling 4E a deck building game because I use cards to keep track of my character's abilities -- it would muddy the waters of any potential discussions with people that don't know that I am using a personal definition.

In a community the shared understandings of broadly accepted terminology is important.

To each their own. How you deal with confusion is just as valid as how I do, and your thoughts and opinions are just as relevant/irrelevant as the ones I hold.

I offer my thoughts and personal definitions for what they're worth. They are not gospel. They are not the only way. They're just mine and shared for any who may find them useful in forming their own thoughts and definitions, be they to support their own, or act as a guide on how not to do things or somewhere in the vast middle. I daresay it's pretty clear where your own thoughts fall.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I am hearing reports that Drew Karpyshyn (lead writer, Mass Effect, ME2, KotOR) has joined this party.

Which IMO is awesome news.

 

[Abstruse]

I am hearing reports that Drew Karpyshyn (lead writer, Mass Effect, ME2, KotOR) has joined this party.

Which IMO is awesome news.

Yup, check my News Digest going up tomorrow morning for more info on that.

 

[ZeshinX]

WotC doesn't want to risk their D&D IP for the first game (in case the game sucks), so they're going to try creating a new IP first to test the waters - and the team.

I'm sure they want to be more careful with the brand in the video game world, that's for sure. Sword Coast Legends left a pretty big stain on it (and killed a studio in the process).

Hopefully Larian can knock Baldur's Gate 3 out of the park.

 

[Reynard]

I'm sure they want to be more careful with the brand in the video game world, that's for sure. Sword Coast Legends left a pretty big stain on it (and killed a studio in the process).

I had such high hopes for that game.

 

[ZeshinX]

I had such high hopes for that game.

Many did, though they were claiming to be pulling off what no one had (really) pulled off successfully at that time....a full single-player RPG + DM client + multiplayer element + toolset + scheduling with print publishing (Rage of Demons storyline).

All that from a studio who, pretty much exclusively to that point, made Wii ports of already built games.

nSpace was never going to pull that off...it's just a shame it was a failure so monumental that it killed them in the process.

 

[Reynard]

Many did, though they were claiming to be pulling off what no one had (really) pulled off successfully at that time....a full single-player RPG + DM client + multiplayer element + toolset + scheduling with print publishing (Rage of Demons storyline).

All that from a studio who, pretty much exclusively to that point, made Wii ports of already built games.

nSpace was never going to pull that off...it's just a shame it was a failure so monumental that it killed them in the process.

I am considering using Divinity:Original Sin 2 DM mode to run my next campaign after I finish Avernus. Using Fantasy Grounds really makes me want to find a hybrid between traditional tabletop and video game, which is what SCL should have been.

 

[ZeshinX]

I am considering using Divinity:Original Sin 2 DM mode to run my next campaign after I finish Avernus. Using Fantasy Grounds really makes me want to find a hybrid between traditional tabletop and video game, which is what SCL should have been.

To those who want a hybridization, I wish them luck in such an endeavor, but it's one I will never touch, support or buy into (I doubt I'm alone in such a sentiment, but I speak only for myself).

With a video game, I want a video game. With a TTRPG, I want a TTRPG with no technology getting in the way (tried it and it was disastrous...more time was spent by the group showing each other funny memes, posting on social media about what we were SUPPOSED to be doing instead of actually doing, and troubleshooting the tech itself when it was slow/not working right/glitching/trying to find the relevant rules...in short, a complete waste of time).

I'm sure others have had far better experiences, but the pinnacle of tech I want at my TTRPG gaming table is a mechanical pencil.