BioWare shifts its focus towards single-player titles, cancels the Star Wars MMO
BioWare will hand off Star Wars: The Old Republic to another team so as to focus on developing single player titles for its upcoming releases.
Star Wars: The Old Republic was initially released for online play back in 2011, and since has seen multiple content updates that attracted hundreds of thousands of players worldwide. Created by BioWare, the MMO serves as an online multiplayer sequel to their earlier Knights of the Old Republic games which had also been produced at that studio.
BioWare will now hand control of development to another team so they can focus on single player releases such as Mass Effect 5 and Dragon Age 4, neither of which are expected any time soon.
BioWare would likely benefit from having more freedom to work on future projects following recent misfires like Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem’s launches which failed to impress critics or players alike.
EA recently confirmed they are in negotiations with Broadsword Online Games regarding an agreement that will see half of BioWare’s Old Republic development team joining Broadsword while looking for roles elsewhere within EA or another studio. Broadsword’s experience supporting online MMO/RPG games make them a good candidate to support Old Republic development.
EA announced its intentions regarding this change by issuing the following statement regarding this move in developer. “EA will give both Broadsword, as a boutique studio which specialises in community-driven experiences online and the game as an entity the best opportunity for growth and evolution”
Fans of Star Wars RPGs haven’t had much luck recently when it comes to Old Republic games, especially their remake of Knights of the Old Republic for PlayStation 5. Due to internal development problems plaguing its production process and leading some speculate about if and when we might see an entry 3 of this trilogy will ever arrive on shelves or on mobile.
Nintendo Switch players who owned Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II were left devastated after learning the highly anticipated “Restored Content” update had been cancelled, which would have brought more dialogue, missions and companion abilities – none of which will go forward now.
