Feb 19, 2012

Posted by in News | 6 Comments

Trio Of Ex-TOR Developers Form New Game Studio

Hot on the heels of Senior Writer Drew Karpyshyn leaving BioWare and the video game business comes news that 3 more senior developers from BioWare, who have worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic for more than 5 years, have departed the company to pursue other opportunities.

Lead Concept Artist Arnie Jorgensen, whom we did an interview with last year at Star Wars Celebration, along with artist Alex Thomas and developer John Watson left BioWare to form their own game studio in Austin, Texas called Stoic. They are working on a game called The Banner Saga that will borrow heavily from their own individual experiences, as well as that of BioWare:

“It will include BioWare-style dialog, exploration of gorgeously painted landscapes, and turn-based strategic combat,” Watson said.

The Banner Saga will be released in 2 phases, the first of which will include multi-player combat. It has an interesting art style and might be something to watch! Head over to Indie Games Magazine for the full story.

And Arnie, if you and your team are reading this, good luck with your project – we will be following closely!

 

  1. I truly wish them all the best of luck! I will keep an eye on that game/studio.

  2. Sounds like a Heroes of Might and Magic game, which are fun.

  3. Rats abandoning a sinking ship

    • Not so much sinking, more like the kind of ship they have traveled on for five years.

      In other MMOs most of the team is pulled off the game after it is released, leaving only a decimated live team, giving the rest of the team the much needed reprieve and distance. Here they kept them all on, and they look for new opportunities individually.

  4. Jonas Birk Jensen says:

    Did Drew leave? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s

    He was like the best Star Wars author ever!

    • JamesEdJones says:

      I wouldn’t say he left. That makes it sound like he quit the job. This is more like – he retired from Bioware. He’ll still be writing novels, which will include a new book set in The Old Republic. But it will allow him to focus on finishing his fantasy series that he’s wanted to do for quite a while.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

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  2. Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Links of the Week | Fantasy & Faith, by Dona Watson - [...] notes that three senior BioWare developers who worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic have left the company to…
  3. TOR Reporter Episode 20 – Capture the T-Shirt - [...] Devs leave to start a new studio, game info - excited / feel loyalty to TOR team? [...]

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