Drew Karpyshyn left BioWare back in 2018 to work on new RPG goodness over at Archetype Entertainment. While the news was sad that our beloved Mass Effect writer has left the flock, it’s exciting to get to work on new projects with new teams and a fresh vision. Still, we didn’t know why he left BioWare after so long at the time, but now the developer has given us an inside look into his decision to jump ship and start anew.
With Karpyshyn now at Archetype Entertainment, he’s now once again at the side of James Ohlen, another long-time BioWare veteran that gave us adventures seen in Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age, to continue weaving story-driven beauty. Any chance again to work with Ohlen again would be great, but is that why he left?
The writer explained in his recent blog that the decision to leave BioWare didn’t come easy and how it began as his “dream job.” But, things change and the gaming industry has changed as well and much of that change had to do with Electronic Arts taking over. He mentioned:
“I’ve been in the video game industry for twenty years now. When I started at BioWare, everything was fresh and exciting. It was a dream job – talented people working together to create epic games like Baldur’s Gate, KOTOR, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. But as we grew and became more successful, things changed. We became more corporate. We were less able to make what we loved, and the teams were pushed to create games based on market research rather than our creative instincts and passions. My dream job became just a job, and I lost the enthusiasm and excitement I once had.”
Luckily for us as his fans and for Karpyshyn as a writer, that passion has once more been reignited thanks to Archetype. He added, “The feel in the studio reminds me of my early days at BioWare; I can feel the magic in the air. And even though I can’t get too deep into the specifics of what we’re working on yet,we’re already generating plenty of excitement in the industry.”
We’re so glad he’s found his passion once more and we can’t wait to see what he does next!
