Fans of narrative-driven role-playing games might want to pay attention to Archetype Entertainment, a new video game-focused division ofMagic: The GatheringandDungeons and Dragonspublisher Wizards of the Coast that was officially revealed today. The development studio housed in Austin, Texas is being led by James Ohlen and Chad Robertson, both of whom have a history in the video game industry withBioWare and its parent company Electronic Arts.
BioWare has had a rocky recent string of releases with 2017’sMass Effect: Andromedaand 2019’sAnthem.However Archetype Entertainment’s Studio Head Ohlen, whoseacquisition by Wizards of the Coastwas announced last April, worked at the developer for 22 years according to his LinkedIn.
RELATED:Magic: The Gathering Reveals Full-Art Unsanctioned Lands
Having started as a Director of Design in 1996, Ohlen’s credits include theDungeons and Dragons-adjacentBaldur’s GateandStar Wars: Knights of The Old Republic,which is reportedly being remade. He also founded a publishing company focused on tabletop games called Arcanum Worlds in 2018.
Robertson, who has been involved with Archetype Entertainment since November according to LinkedIn, was announced as a studio leader by its official Twitter account today. He served as the Studio Director at BioWare Austin (the division responsible forStar Wars: The Old Republic, considered one of the bestnot subscription-based MMORPGs) for two years, and together with Ohlen brings almost 40 years of experience in game development.
According to Wizards of the Coast the new studio will be an autonomous entity, and Archetype Entertainment’s website says it wants to build games representing diverse audiences “that put the player at the center of an epic personal narrative with impactful choices.” As of now it’s unknown what they’re working on beyond a “multi-platform” sci-fi RPG.
It’s likely Archetype Entertainment might not announce concrete details about a game for some time as the studio is currently “assembling a world-class team,” who it says it would aim to empower and challenge with “ambitious” projects. Listed on the studio’s website are nine open job positions including Art Director, Lead VFX Artist, and Lead Gameplay Engineer.
As fans of BioWare’s older titles wait for a potentialremaster of theMass Effecttrilogy, Archetype Entertainment might be able to scratch their narrative-driven RPG itch. It should be interesting to see what Ohlen and Robertson can put together once they fill out their team.
MORE:Dungeons and Dragons Has a Lot of Games in the Works
